Lauderdale plans to limit pot clinics

A state law says cities cannot limit the number of medical marijuana dispensaries, but Fort Lauderdale plans to do it anyway, officials said last week.

Fort Lauderdale officials said they will reject several medical marijuana dispensaries in the northeast part of the city, even while acknowledging that a city law limiting clinic numbers likely won’t hold up in court.

The city’s law allows a maximum of four medical marijuana dispensaries citywide, one in each City Commission district. And four businesses are seeking to open in District 1, the Northeast.

“We wanted to alert you we have more than one,” City Manager Lee Feldman advised city commissioners at a meeting Tuesday. “We will be denying the second,

third and fourth.”

The problem is a state law prohibits cities from limiting the number of dispensaries. A city is allowed to ban them outright, the state law says, but if a city chooses to allow the marijuana treatment centers, they must be treated like any ordinary pharmacy.

Fort Lauderdale passed its restrictive law before the state law was approved. So some parts of it, including a ban on dispensaries within 1,500 feet of parks, and a distance between them of at least 1,000 feet, are grandfathered in, Interim City Attorney Alain Boileau advised commissioners this week.

Only the portion limiting the number of clinics is likely to collapse in court, Boileau said, because state law explicitly prohibits that.

“Challenged on that issue,” Boileau said, “we’re likely to lose.”

Boileau said the city could keep the law in place but just stop enforcing the per-district limit. He explained that the city cannot amend the law to remove that limit without jeopardizing the rest of it.

Feldman said he’d have a hard time telling homeowner associations that “we are just not going to enforce an ordinance because it may be challenged.”

He suggested the stick to what’s on books.

“If someone believes it is unlawful,” Feldman said, “they can challenge us in court.”

Boileau countered soon after: “We can wait for the court to tell us that, or we can deem ourselves it’s unconstitutional and avoid the battle.”

City commissioners Tuesday said they didn’t want to take any action. Feldman said the city will continue enforcing the existing law with the limits.

The application that was submitted first to the city was for a clinic at 4500 N. Federal Highway. It is working its way through the approval process.

Neighbors in Coral Ridge Country Club Estates already have complained that it won’t have enough parking and landscaping, among other things.

Second in the door was an application for 2949 N. Federal Highway, a city memo says.

Feldman did not disclose the locations of the two additional potential applicants except to say they’re also in that district.

Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2016 allowing the use of medical marijuana.

According to the state health department, 14 businesses have been approved to dispense medical marijuana. They have opened 49 medical marijuana treatment centers around state, according to a state list updated Wednesday.

For now, there is no dispensary open in Broward County. One is expected to open in Deerfield Beach. city the