By Katie Burke
The city council of Encinitas hasn’t ruled out cultivation and delivery at this point. Encinitas had voted yes on prop 64 by 65.2%. The fact that city council is now voting on whether to allow cultivation and delivery are leaving many of us confused. The majority of citizens who attended the city council meeting on Sept. 27, 2017, were against cultivation and delivery. The public comments went for almost two hours. The main concerns were the smell, children, crime, and water/energy usage. The crowd was instructed to wave their hands in a show of support and to please refrain from clapping. There were many, many hands raised and waving for commentary against cultivation and delivery.
At the meeting on Sept. 28, 2017, the marijuana task force including Deputy Mayor Tony Kranz and council member Joe Mosca, could not agree. The two are at the complete opposite end of the arguments. Mosca is concerned with public safety and banking regulations; he wants cannabis banned outright. However, Deputy Mayor Tony Kranz was in favor for cultivation as it would benefit the local farmers. He is also in support of delivery but, for medicinal uses only.
There are two ordinances on the table for Encinitas. One would permit cultivation on agriculturally-zoned properties. The other would ban cultivation, storefronts and medical dispensaries city wide.
The City council of Encinitas will now be forced to make a decision sometime in October at a special meeting. This upcoming special meeting will be an interesting as we know Councilman Joe Mosca and Councilman Mark Muir are completely against cannabis in Encinitas. Maureen Muir, the wife of councilman Mark Muir, is concerned with the negative impact on the city’s youth, crime and property values. She is a member of the San Dieguito Union High School District. She was a vocal force in the arguments against cannabis in Encinitas.
That leaves two other council members to vote on cultivation and delivery. Mayor Catherine Blakespear has said in the past that she’s not opposed to marijuana farms as long as they are heavily regulated, organic farms. She was quoted as saying she’d “like it to be as highly taxed as possible.”
The final councilmember would be Boerner Horvath. She has been quoted in the past of saying, “she struggles with marijuana sales and storefronts.” She was also quoted as saying “my sense is yes, we should (allow the storefronts) because that’s the will of the people.”
With three of the five council members historically leaning towards allowing cultivation in past publications, it looks like it’s safe to predict Encinitas will be in the clear for cultivation by 2018.
