News

I-Team investigation: Prohibited pot shops operating “Under the Radar”

Published December 21, 2018 6:50 PM

There’s a reason some pot dispensaries are legal and others are not.

News Channel 3’s I-Team investigator Brooke Beare found a cluster of cannabis collectives in our own backyard breaking rules right and left, and investigated who is and who is not keeping an eye on them.

“All day, and all night,” Tina Villasenor hears the crunch of tires on gravel, entering and exiting the marijuana dispensary across the street from her home. After living at the home in Thousand Palms for nearly a decade, a few months ago, the Good Good marijuana dispensary opened up yards away from her front door. A few days ago, she says she got robbed. “Since they put in that shop, I see the whole night illegal activities, all the cars, all the little gangs (of people hanging around).” Data from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department shows Villasenor’s street got 3 calls for service in November 2017. In November 2018, after the dispensary started operating, the Sheriff’s Department received 25 calls for service on that street, including 8 for disturbances. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department declined to comment specifically on the dispensaries in Thousand Palms, but said “We will continue to ensure compliance at all dispensaries who choose to operate within Riverside County, ensuring all are in compliance as they open their respective business.”
Neither Good Good nor Green Empire has business licenses registered with the state of California. Good Good runs out of a temporary trailer erected on a parcel of land on Datil Road, on the back side of busy Ramon Road in Thousand Palms. It is just yards away from a school bus stop.

The tax assessor doesn’t have any record of there being a structure on property, and no permit has ever been issued.

Riverside County code enforcement has active cases working against Good Good and Green Empire. The county would not comment on specifics, but they shut down the shop that was next door to Green Empire. It used to be called CCI.

On Gunther Way, on Oct. 30, 2018, the District Attorney’s office’s Cannabis Regulation Task Force raided an illegal shop called Desert Cann Wellness. Within a month KESQ received reports it had reopened as Speakeasy Wellness, although it appeared closed in December.

Both businesses declined to speak on camera about their operations.

Eventually someone from Green Empire, who would not identify themselves, sent an email to KESQ, stating that they appreciated efforts to report on cannabis but that they did not consent for the station to use their information in any part of the report, although the information is listed publicly on Instagram, Facebook and Weedmaps.

The county would not provide a spokesperson to interview, but sent a statement that said going after illegal pot shops is “like playing whack-a-mole.”

“Riverside County has, and will continue, to work aggressively to shut down dispensaries in unincorporated areas because they are prohibited under county ordinance.”

A statement sent by the office of Supervisor V. Manuel Perez said “The county has been actively working to close illegal dispensaries since they violate zoning laws intended to protect the general health, safety and welfare of the surrounding community and constitute a public nuisance.”

The county has obtained 17 permanent injunctions on shops in the last two years, but finding the rightful owners is tough.

One of the dispensaries is on a empty lot with an address that does not actually plot. But parcels have new property owners.

Good Good is linked with a trust in Oxnard. A person who identified himself as the associated name hung up when called.

Green Empire is linked to a limited liability corporation in San Diego. The person associated with that name has multiple aliases and addresses all over the state.

Good Good also claims to be associated with a Native American church called Oklevueha Native American Church.

“The medicine they sell is like healing medicine,” explained one man coming out of the dispensary.

Oklevueha Native American Church did not respond to a request for information on the status of the dispensary as a registered or affiliated church. Good Good is not on tribal land.

Villasenor does not believe it is a church.

“I’m 100 percent sure it’s not a church,” she laughs.

She and her neighbors find the situation disheartening.

“My daughter goes to take the bus right there,” adds Luz Ochoa. “It’s not good for her. It’s really bad.”

The District Attorney’s office says they have made no arrests in these cases, and that all are still under investigation, including the raid in October.

Next month, the county will start accepting applications to grow or sell marijuana in Thousand Palms, or in other areas where it had been previously prohibited. Those who apply will have to follow rules about paying taxes and proximity to homes and schools.

What kind of notice do marijuana dispensaries get from the Riverside County District Attorney’s office that they’re operating illegally? Check out this newly released cease and desist notice here, which shows that they’re violating health and safety codes, unfair competition practices and the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act.

What is Riverside County’s current position on marijuana cultivation and dispensaries? They are prohibited.

ORDINANCE NO. 348.4835
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE PROVIDING FOR LAND USE
PLANNING AND ZONING REGULATIONS AND RELATED FUNCTIONS.
ARTICLE III ZONE CLASSIFICATIONS
III-3
SECTION 3.4. MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES AND MARIJUANA CULTIVATION
PROHIBITED.
In no event shall a medical marijuana dispensary or marijuana cultivation, as the terms are
defined in this ordinance, be considered permitted or conditionally permitted uses in any zone
classification. A medical marijuana dispensary is prohibited in all zone classifications and no
permit of any type shall be issued therefor. Marijuana cultivation is prohibited in all zone
classifications and no permit of any type shall be issued therefor. There shall be a limited
exemption from enforcement for violations of this section for marijuana cultivation in the
following zone classifications in conjunction with a one-family dwelling if such marijuana
cultivation complies with the conditions and standards set forth in Ordinance No. 925: Light
Agriculture (A-1), Heavy Agriculture (A-2), Light Agriculture with Poultry (A-P), Citrus Vineyard
(CIV), Natural Assets (N-A), One-Family Dwellings (R-1), One-Family Dwellings Mountain
Resort (R-1A), Multiple-Family Dwellings (R-2), Limited Multiple-Family Dwellings (R-2A),
General Residential (R-3), Village Tourist Residential (R-3A), Planned Residential (R-4),
Residential Incentive (R-6), Residential Agricultural (R-A), Regulated Development (R-D), Rural
Residential (R-R), Mobile Home Subdivisions and Mobile Home Parks (R-T), Mobile Home
Subdivision Rural (R-T-R), Controlled Development Areas (W-2), Controlled Development Area
with Mobile Homes (W-2-M), Wine Country- Winery (WC-W), Wine Country- Winery Existing
(WC-WE), Wine Country- Equestrian (WC-E), Wine Country -Residential (WC-R), and Specific
Plan (SP) when the underlying zone classification for that particular SP is one of the other zone
classifications identified in this Section.
Ord. 348.4802 Item 16-2 of 05/19/15 (Effective Date: 06/18/15)