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Planners revisit pot shop ruling

Brian Wilkinson

(Updated: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 12:00 AM)

Despite a county ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries, Steven and Rita Smith of Ahwahnee will appear before the Madera County Planning Commission at 6 p.m. Aug. 3 at the Coarsegold Community Center, to discuss their application for an Oakhurst medical marijuana collective.

The couple is seeking a conditional use permit that would allow Heaven Scent Organic Horti-Pharm Collective on 3.36 acres at 40356 Oak Park Way, 400 feet south of Highway 49.

A Madera County Planning Department staff report states the use of a commercial or industrial building to conduct this business is in direct conflict of county code and dispensaries are prohibited.

The staff report points out that collectives differ from similar groups, such as cooperatives, because they are generally nonprofit oriented, much like an agricultural collective.

The proposed location would be considered a dispensary. Although the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a clear separation between a collective and a storefront dispensary, according to the staff report.

The applicant states that the proposed business is a collective made up of a group of Mountain Area people who choose to use all-natural cannabis for pain management. "We are following the Attorney General's guidelines for cooperatives and collectives," said Rita Smith. "We want to bring a pesticide-free product to the sick in Madera County who choose to use this form of treatment."

Smith, who along with her husband, has faced medical problems, feels cannabis is just one more weapon in the treatment of cancer and other serious and life-threatening conditions.

"We will listen to the proposal and their interpretation of the law, but we feel the ordinance that was passed by supervisors on Sept. 22, 2009, after two public hearings, is pretty clear," said Jerome Keene of the county planning department.