MEDICAL MARIJUANA The council plans to enact...

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The council plans to enact a 45-day moratorium on the issuance of

permits to medical marijuana dispensaries. The law would take

affirmative votes from five of the seven council members to go into

effect.

WHAT IT MEANS

The moratorium is a response to pending litigation before the

Supreme Court regarding the legality of California’s medical pot

laws.

There are no medical marijuana facilities in Huntington Beach,

but the law was drafted after someone inquired about possibly

building one in town.

FOURTH OF JULY PARADE

The council is considering changing the city’s “staking out”

ordinance for viewing of the Fourth of July parade. Police officials

said the old ordinance, which allows residents to save a spot on the

public right away at the first stroke of midnight on July 2, creates

a public safety hazard with residents running all over the streets

late in the night, sometimes into oncoming traffic to duct tape or

chalk off a place on the sidewalk for their families to view the

parade. Mayor Jill Hardy also said the short-lived tradition created

a mess of tape and debris that took months to remove.

WHAT IT MEANS

The new law doesn’t allow residents to begin staking out property

until 9 a.m. on July 3 and city staff will remove spots that were

staked before.

The new ordinance also bans the use of tape on public property to

stake out a spot, and the city is encouraging residents to instead

use chalk.

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF MAIN STREET

The City Council will consider closing Main Street to vehicular

traffic for certain events including the Wavecrest Beach Cruiser

Meet, the Fourth of July Parade and Halloween Downtown activities.

WHAT IT MEANS

Permanently closing the street to vehicular traffic is a topic of

frequent debate at the City Council. The success of these temporary

closures could set a tone for future talks on Main Street closure.