Pot Dispensaries Ban_Kill.jpg

Marijuana grows at the home of two medical marijuana patients in Medford in 2011.

(AP Photo)

A move to keep medical marijuana dispensaries out of Tualatin

because of one councilor's change of heart.

The ordinance would have let Tualatin deny licenses to businesses violating local, state or federal laws.

Joelle Davis

City Councilor Joelle Davis surprised city management and Mayor Lou Ogden, who proposed going after marijuana retailers, when she switched votes at the Monday Nov. 25 council meeting. That gave opponents in a closely divided council a majority, blocking the ordinance from moving forward.

The change of heart had nothing to do with supporting dispensaries, she said. Instead, it was about

.

"Tualatin has an eye to do a lot of expansion in terms of business recruitment," Davis said in an interview Wednesday. "I believe having a law like this would be a deterrent."

Several councilors warned that this law could be used by future public officials or business competitors to shut down unpopular businesses over small infractions. Other cities have similar business license rules on the books, including Medford and Hillsboro.

The proposal first came up in a June work session. Davis agreed that city staff should bring back a tool for keeping medical marijuana dispensaries out of Tualatin because the state was poised to legalize them. She voted in favor of the business license rule change Nov. 12.

Since then, she reflected on objections to the law being too broad and heard concerns from businesses, Davis said.

The speed of pushing the business license ordinance through -- without little discussion of alternatives or public comment -- also bothered Davis.

"I’m not interested in putting the city in a position where we are exposed to risk and liability because of a decision council made in a hurry, Davis said.

She still wants to find a more narrow way to keep the dispensaries out of Tualatin. While opposing marijuana, she agrees that people should have access to the drug for medicinal purposes and some people can use marijuana without devastating results. But as a public official, her focus is on community norms, she said.

"I'm personally not interested in making it easier for kids to see this as something acceptable," Davis said of marijuana.

No dispensaries are already operating in Tualatin or have applied to open shop, said Tualatin City Manager Sherilyn Lombos. According to state data, 125 people in the Tualatin zip code – less than a half percent of the population -- hold medical marijuana cards.

Davis wants council to hold off on this issue until Oregon offers another draft of regulations for medical marijuana retail outlets. Lawyers disagree about whether or not local governments can even block the stores.



Davis

for District 37 of the Oregon House of Representatives. She said she's not sure what her political future holds and that her decision was not influenced by politics.

"My decision was what's best for the city itself," she said.

--Fenit Nirappil: 503-294-4029