Motorcyclist, 22, killed in crash

Speed may have been a factor in a Wilton Manors crash that killed a motorcyclist from Oakland Park, according to investigators.

Shortly before midnight Saturday, Luis Saenz-Gomez, 22, died when the Honda CBR motorcycle he was driving on Oakland Park Boulevard collided with a Toyota Corolla whose driver was making a left turn onto Northeast Sixth Avenue, the Broward Sheriff ’s Office said.

Saenz-Gomez was dead at the scene, according to Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue. The driver of the Honda, Erika Ray, 26, of Fort Lauderdale, was taken to Broward Health Medical Center with injuries that are not considered lifethreatening, the sheriff ’s office said.

Investigators think Saenz-Gomez may have been speeding before the crash and it’s unclear if he was wearing a helmet. The sheriff’s office asks anyone with information on the crash to call 954-321-4840.

DELRAY BEACH — Cities are updating their rules on gardening in the city. While they’re at it, they’re throwing in that growing marijuana is prohibited.

Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but Delray Commissioner Mitch Katz said it was necessary for the city to ban growing marijuana plants before the state drafts guidelines for voter-approved medical marijuana laws.

“This way, it’s in our laws, books, before anybody else passes anything that could potentially pre-empt that from happening,” he said Tuesday.

Delray is one of several cities with a temporary moratorium in place for the marijuana industry. Palm Beach County also approved a yearlong ban in February.

The new rules also would expand the areas where gardening is allowed to include commercial, light industrial and some mixed-use residential districts.

The city’s planning and zoning director, Tim Stillings, said several restaurants in the city asked for the changes so they can grow more of their own herbs and produce.

The list of prohibited flora includes other plants: noxious weeds, air potato vines and old world climbing ferns.

The commission initially approved the rewrite of the city’s gardening rules with the marijuana amendment on Tuesday, but it still needs another vote before becoming law.

An organization that supports the reform of marijuana laws around the county denounced the amendment as “sneaky,” said Karen Goldstein, executive director of the Florida chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

It would ban licensed medical marijuana growers from Delray Beach, Goldstein said.

“I think it’s important that they allow public input on it,” Goldstein said. “They should open it for public discussion and really it should be up to voters, not up to the City Commission.”

In November, 71 percent of Florida voters approved Amendment 2, which makes it easier for people with severe illnesses such as cancer to use medical marijuana.

The Legislature is working through plans on how to best regulate the new industry.