GARDEN GROVE – City Council members will consider an ordinance Tuesday night that would require all medical marijuana dispensaries to register with the city.

City Manager Matthew Fertal said the city has about 30 medical marijuana dispensaries. In 2008, the City Council enacted a ban on these dispensaries, but that ban has not been enforceable, he said.

“We basically took the position not to incur litigation expenses with regard to this issue,” Fertal said.

He said other cities, such as neighbor Anaheim, have been fighting medical marijuana dispensary operators in court. In a move to avoid lawsuits and litigation expenses, the city is trying another tactic, which is to require pot dispensary operators to register with the city.

“This way we know who is in our city and where they are located,” Fertal said. “Once we know that, we will be performing background checks into the individuals who are running these operations.”

The ordinance is being viewed as an “emergency” because many dispensaries are operating in areas where they should not be, such as child care centers and residential areas, he said.

The next step would be to pass a zoning ordinance requiring medical marijuana dispensaries to operate only in areas zoned commercial. Right now, dispensaries are operating within a few feet of day care centers, which needs to change, Fertal said.

Businesses that do not comply with the ordinance, which will become effective immediately if passed, can face citations.

“The other option for us, as always, is litigation,” Fertal said.

The city has spent about $219,000 over a four-year court battle over 8 grams of marijuana confiscated from Felix Kha. The court ruled in Kha’s favor and ordered Garden Grove police to return the marijuana, which Kha claimed was for medical purposes. Officials said Kha did not have a doctor’s certificate at the time he was stopped by police, but produced one later.

The case culminated in June 2009 after the city paid $139,000 in attorney’s fees to medical marijuana advocates as part of a settlement agreement in Kha’s case.

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