UPDATE (Wednesday, Feb. 15): City attorney: Riverside pot business the first to be forced closed

After months of legal battling, Riverside city officials shut down a medical marijuana dispensary that had been operating illegally in the Magnolia Center neighborhood.

Riverside police, fire and code enforcement officials shut down the Re-up dispensary on Central Avenue between San Diego and Riverside avenues Thursday, according to a city news release. Officials said it was operating in violation of zoning laws. Riverside residents voted in 2015 to ban medical marijuana dispensaries.

Riverside Ward 3 Councilman Mike Soubirous said 10 to 12 medical marijuana dispensaries could be operating illegally in the city. The legal process to shut them down could take months to a year, he said. Court records show that city attorneys filed for a permanent injunction against Re-up in September.

Undercover police had purchased marijuana from the dispensary, according to the release, which also said the business violated codes related to the ability to enter and exit the facility.

The city had issued cease and desist letters to the dispensary and later red-tagged it, making it illegal to enter the building, and disconnected its utilities, the release said.

The dispensary’s operators started using a generator for power, the release said.

Soubirous said neighbors had been complaining about the dispensary for months, then complained further about the generator.

During the operation Thursday, the dispensary’s operators were removed from the building and it was boarded up. Court records show the dispensary’s owners filed a lawsuit against the city the day before the raid seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.

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