L.A. Council Rejects Home Buffer Zone For Pot Shops

Considering its long-awaited ordinance to get a grip on 545 largely unregulated medical marijuana retailers in L.A., the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday rejected a proposed 500 foot buffer zone between the shops and homes and instead drafted language that would prohibit the businesses from being next to or across the street from a residence.

The council remained undecided on what will be perhaps the most-contentious part of the proposed law -- whether 1,000 or even 500 foot buffer zones between the stores and schools, churches and other sensitive community locations should be included in the language. The council once again put off a vote on the matter -- until Tuesday.

Charts that showed proposed buffer zones in the city were viewed by City News Service, which reports that a 1,000 foot buffer for the likes of schools and churches and a 500 foot one for homes "would also force the relocation of all but four of the 137 existing dispensaries that the city has agreed to keep open" under the proposed ordinance.

City News found that certain areas would allow for concentrations of the stores in certain communities if the buffers were required: the Wilmington-Harbor City area, Sun Valley, La Tuna Canyon, Chatsworth, Porter Ranch, Harbor Gateway, Reseda, West Van Nuys, downtown, and Boyle Heights. Buffer zones would lock dispensaries out of Bel Air, Beverly Crest, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Venice, Westlake, Encino, Tarzana, Sunland, Tujunga, Lake View Terrace, Shadow Hills and East La Tuna Canyon.