Update: Judge Gives OK to Evict MediBloom

Updated 11:00 a.m. Tuesday with comments from MediBloom's attorney, Lance Rogers.

A controversial medical marijuana dispensary in Rancho Bernardo will soon shut its doors—or have them shut by the sheriff—after a judge ruled that the operative can be evicted for violating the city's zoning laws, the San Diego City Attorney's Office announced Monday.

MediBloom, the dispensary at 11665 Avena Place just off of Bernardo Center Drive, opened in April and has been fighting back against moves to shut it down. This latest ruling, handed down on Nov. 1, gives Kimber Investment Group, LLC permission to evict MediBloom.

"There's no place in the City of San Diego, including the shopping center in Rancho Bernardo here, where medical marijuana dispensary is a permissible use. It is therefore illegal," Judge Ronald S. Prager said, according to a transcript of the proceedings. [Editor's Note: The transcript is attached.]

"Although this might have been somewhat of a gray area at the time the lease was entered into, as time went by, it became clear [...] that this was not a lawful use," Prager said.

When the lease was signed March 15, "everybody knew this was going to be a medical marijuana dispensary," Prager said, adding that sometimes dispensary operators tried to hide that fact, but MediBloom did not.

However, the "gray area" of whether the operation was legal—created by the city's incomplete move toward creating legal zones for dispensaries—was cleared up when city officials sent the property owners a notice of violation in May, Prager said.

The judge said it was MediBloom's responsibility to ensure that it was operating legally, and when it became clear that the city considered the operation illegal, it was up to the dispensary to bring itself into compliance by no longer selling marijuana or shutting down.

MediBloom did neither, he said.

Now, the investment group's attorneys are coordinating with law enforcement to evict MediBloom. At the Nov. 1 court session, the attorneys said it usually takes from 10 days to two weeks to set up the eviction, or "sheriff lockout." MediBloom's attorney, Lance Rogers, indicated that he would be working on getting a stay through the Court of Appeals.

"At this time MediBloom intends to appeal the judgement and we are in the process of filing the appeal," Rogers told Patch on Tuesday.

Leanne Barbat, one of the attorneys representing the investment group, said the eviction date has not yet been set, but it should be done soon.

The group also was awarded more than $7,500 in back rent. Rogers said the dispensary has always attempted to pay rent, but the landlord "refused to accept" rent several months ago amid the legal wrangling.

For its part, MediBloom has fought back every step of the way since opening in April amid outcry from Rancho Bernardo residents, and recently, threats from federal officials about cracking down on dispensaries statewide.

In early October, federal officials announced they would be coming after medical marijuana dispensaries in California for violating federal laws against distributing marijuana. California legalized medical marijuana through the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, but the drug remains illegal federally under the Controlled Substances Act.

After the announced crackdown, Rogers, MediBloom's attorney, told Patch that he was "troubled" by the federal intrusion into a state issue. He said MediBloom would fight back against any closure attempts. Later that month, the San Diego City Attorney's Office announced that it had agreed to stay a $25,000 fine against Kimber Investment Group, LLC if the group evicted MediBloom.

The group moved forward with what is known as an "unlawful detainer" case against MediBloom, a move to evict typically based on unpaid rent. In this case, Kimber LLC's argument was centered around the dispensary operating in violation of the city's zoning laws.

The city, in April, had approved an ordinance that would permit dispensaries to operate in certain areas, but did not officially define the zones or issue business permits to dispensaries. But amid a voter referendum, the City Council in July repealed the ordinance. Now the city has moved toward shutting down dispensaries, through agreements such as the one with Kimber.

Editor's Note: The story has been corrected to note that the announcement came from the San Diego City Attorney's Office, not the district attorney.

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