City attorney: marijuana-dispensary denial will be remanded to Planning Commission for review of record

City Attorney David Meggitt told the Planning Commission the city and petitioners have agreed to remand litigation over a previously denied conditional-use application for a medical marijuana treatment center/dispensing facility so the commission can revisit the decision on the existing record.

The matter stems from a conditional-use denial at the commission’s July meeting. Litigation followed in the form of a petition for writ of certiorari alleging, among other claims, the commission’s decision was not supported by competent, substantial evidence. As part of a negotiated process in the litigation, the parties agreed the matter should be returned to the commission for additional discussion of the record; no new testimony or evidence will be taken.

Meg g itt told commissioners the remand narrows the board’s review to the evidence and public record developed at the July hearing; he advised commissioners to focus on whether the record contains competent, substantial evidence to support either approval or denial. “There’s allegations that there was not evidence in the record to support the denial,” Meggitt said, and he urged a thorough discussion at the remand hearing to clarify the board’s reasoning and the record basis for any future vote.

The city will provide the same packet materials that were available for the July hearing to allow commissioners to review the record in advance of the Oct. 27 session. Meggitt said procedural due-process steps will be followed at the remand meeting and commissioners may contact the city attorney with procedural questions beforehand. No new public testimony will be admitted at the remand hearing, he said.