Ventura County Dispensary Fights Back!

Marijuana shop fights Westlake in court

By Christy Fenner

Originally published 04:20 p.m., July 23, 2009
Updated 04:20 p.m., July 23, 2009

The Westlake Village City Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to
extend the city's temporary moratorium on marijuana distribution
facilities.

The council's 5-0 vote came one day after lawyers for Amazing
Healing Supply, a marijuana distribution facility in the city, announced
that they plan to ask a court on Friday to issue a restraining order to
block the city from interfering with the business.

The business contends that it did not violate the city's zoning
ordinance when it began operating May 30 in a business park on La Baya
Drive.

City officials imposed an initial, 45-day moratorium on July 8 after
learning that the business had opened in the city.

The council's vote this week will extend the moratorium by a period
of 10 months and 15 days, giving city officials time to study their
zoning ordinances and adopt changes before the moratorium expires.

Westlake Village will oppose the business's legal challenge, said
City Attorney Terence Boga.

"The city will go to court and fight for our position," Boga
said. "In the interim, Amazing Healing Supply is closed and will
stay closed until a judge says otherwise."

The business is represented by the law offices of Snyder and Dorenfeld
in Agoura Hills.

In its petition filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Amazing
Healing Supply says it is "a medical marijuana collective as defined
by Proposition 215," the ballot measure approved by California
voters.

After the business opened, representatives of the city's planning
department notified it on June 17 that it was in violation the
city's municipal code and had to suspend operation immediately. The
business appealed to the City Council, which held a public hearing July
8 and turned it down, and then passed the initial moratorium.

In a written report to the council, the city's staff said the zoning
ordinance "does not specifically list marijuana distribution
facility as a permitted use or conditionally permitted use in any zoning
district. As a result, such use is deemed to be prohibited."

The petition filed in court by Amazing Healing Supply states that the
city "does not require a business permit for the operation of a
business similar to the petitioner's business." The document
also states that when it began operating, the city had an applicable
zoning ordinance allowing such a businesses to operate in the business
park zone where it is located.

Amazing Healing Supply asks the court to allow it to re-open and to
order the city to pay its legal expenses as well as "other relief as
the court deems proper."