140 likes | 246 Views
Un-Greening LA. A Spatial Look at LA’s Medical Marijuana Ordinaces. Justin Oh UP 206A – Estrada Winter 2011. Key Questions. How have LA’s medical marijuana ordinances affected the number/location of dispensaries? Did the ordinances accomplish what they were designed to do?. Pre-2007.
E N D
Un-Greening LA A Spatial Look at LA’s Medical Marijuana Ordinaces Justin Oh UP 206A – Estrada Winter 2011
Key Questions • How have LA’s medical marijuana ordinances affected the number/location of dispensaries? • Did the ordinances accomplish what they were designed to do?
Pre-2007 • LA City has zoning ordinance in place to allow dispensaries in accordance with CA Prop 215: • Light Industrial / Commercial zones that do not abut Residential zones • May not locate within 1000 feet of: • Schools/Childcare facilities • Parks • Libraries • Places of worship • Other “sensitive uses” • Other dispensaries
2007 - 2009 • LA City Council establishes interim control ordinance, placing moratorium on new dispensaries (March 2007) • Moratorium is largely ignored: • Poor oversight and enforcement leads to an explosion of new dispensaries • “Hardship exemption” loophole • Wildly varying estimates of the number of shops: • LAPD – 450 • LA Weekly – 525 • Justin Oh – 700 • KCRW – 1000 • LA Planning Dept - ??????
2009 - 2010 • LA City Council adopts a new ordinance allowing 186 dispensaries to operate (June 2009). Hardship exemption removed, and only allowed to operate if: • In operation prior to 2007 ICO under same name, at least one original owner • Pass new round of registrations/fees • Still in compliance with all applicable regulations • Service of letters to noncompliant dispensaries (May 2010) • Backed by City Attorney • Penalty of up to $2500/day of noncompliance, 6 months in jail
Today – Down to 41 • Latest round of registrations/applications determined only 41 dispensaries are still eligible to operate (February 2011) • City has asked District Judge to determine if such a restrictive ordinance is legal • Multiple lawsuits from owners pending
Hollywood – A Closer Look • Denser concentration of dispensaries than most LA neighborhoods • 69 in 16.5 sq.mi 4.18 dispensaries/sq.mi (2007) • 26 in 16.5 sq.mi 1.58 dispensaries/sq.mi (2011) • Most disqualified dispensaries violate location rules; very few odd cases spatially
Key Questions • How have LA’s medical marijuana ordinances affected the number/location of dispensaries? • Number – Decreased drastically (at least those operating lawfully, not delivery-only) • Location – Not much change; ordinances were reactive • Did the ordinances accomplish what they were designed to do? • Yes; they were designed to cut down the number of dispensaries in LA and did so.
Skills Used • Layout 1: • Geocoding addresses of dispensaries • Geoprocessing (Clipping) LA County shapefile with California coastline • Layout 2: • Selecting by Attribute to differentiate between authorized and unauthorized dispensaries • Layout 3: • Selecting by Attribute to differentiate between eligible and ineligible dispensaries
Skills Used • Layout 4: • Inset Map of Hollywood area by adding new data frame • Selection by Location to create layer of dispensaries, schools, parks, and libraries within census tracts of interest • Buffering around “sensitive uses” to indicate restricted areas in which dispensaries cannot locate