Supervisor proposes ban on pot dispensaries in unincorporated areas

Worried that unincorporated Los Angeles County could increasingly be favored by medical marijuana dispensaries excluded from other areas, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich on Tuesday proposed a ban on the outlets, which would reverse a four-year-old county policy.

Aides to Antonovich noted that many cities in the county have banned dispensaries or imposed moratoriums and the city of Los Angeles is trying to shut down about 400. The supervisor’s office has received at least a dozen inquiries from Los Angeles dispensaries looking to move to the county.

“Our concern is that dispensaries will look for new locations in our unincorporated areas, and that would unduly burden residences and business owners in those areas,” said Tony Bell, the supervisor’s spokesman.

Bell said Antonovich is also concerned about crime, as highlighted by last week’s killings of two dispensary workers in Los Angeles. “We know from recent activities that there is a criminal element that is attracted to dispensaries,” he said.

The supervisors adopted an ordinance in 2006 that allows medical marijuana dispensaries, but prohibits them within 1,000 feet of churches, day-care centers, libraries, playgrounds, schools and other sensitive uses. Antonovich was the only one of the five supervisors to oppose it.

Antonovich also has been frustrated by dispensaries opening in his district without seeking the required conditional use permit. Paul Novak, the supervisor’s planning deputy, said that between eight and 10 have opened without permission. He said that county officials have expended considerable time and effort to close them, including seeking court action in three or four cases. He said one of the dispensaries had opened two doors from the Charter Oak library on East Arrow Highway.

Novak noted that Lancaster and Palmdale in the largely unincorporated northern part of the county have banned dispensaries, as have cities such as Arcadia, Monrovia and Pasadena, which are near unincorporated pockets of the county.

“The supervisor’s had a concern about the issue for quite some time,” Novak said. “We don’t want to be the only one in a particular area that doesn’t have a ban.”

The proposal will come before the supervisors on Tuesday.

john.hoeffel@latimes.com