El Centro city councilmembers could start to push forward once again with a medical marijuana dispensary ordinance.
El Centro is the only city in Imperial County where medical marijuana dispensaries are legal.
Last October, dispensaries were ready to begin the application process.
The Director of Planning and Development, Norma Villacana, tells News 11 "There were five or six different dispensaries or applicants that were ready to submit their applications." However, on the heels of a major lawsuit and federal government crackdown, the city council put the entire process on hold. Now the city wants to map out a timeline, depending on the outcome of two California Supreme Court cases. California's High Court will decide if cities can legally ban dispensaries, like other cities across Imperial County have done. It will also decide if cities can issue permits to dispensaries, like El Centro and Long Beach have chosen to do. Villacana explains "It's a land use issue. Whether it's permitted or not, it has to be addressed in the ordinance." On Tuesday's agenda, councilmembers will decide if they should begin accepting applications again. The process would start 120 days after a ruling comes down in both cases. At that time, judges are expected to give dispensary guidelines for California cities. City officials say this would give councilmembers months to come up with changes or even start from scratch.
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