Under the Radar: Are those unlicensed pot shops still open in the desert? An I-Team follow up

“I get complaints all the time about the trash, and sometimes even the smell,” says Bill Senso outside the Thousand Palms Chamber of Commerce. As the Chamber’s President, Senso says he’s repeatedly called Riverside County Code Enforcement about a number of illegal marijuana dispensaries for the last year and a half.

“The code enforcement comes in and closes them down,” he says. “They’re down for a few weeks, and then they’re right back up again, or someone else moves in.”

Senso believes part of the problem is the way the businesses operate as cash-only.

“So even if they get a fine, so it’s like a days worth of income. The income is nothing to them, the fines mean nothing to them.”

He says the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department continues to refer him to code enforcement, and he’s now fed up.

Both Good Good on Datil Road and Green Empire on Ramon Road are still in operation, weeks after KESQ’s report aired. Cars come in and out of the parking lot at all hours of the day, park on neighboring residential streets, and in the parking lots of adjacent businesses. Neither dispensary has clear signage indicating that marijuana is sold inside.

However local businesses like Sergio’s Automotive are dealing with the repercussions of these unpermitted, unlicensed operations.

“More trash, like you see right there,” Sergio Ceballos gestures to boxes and debris in the back street behind his automotive repair shop. “And at nighttime, I see people at my fence, just looking. Because I got cameras. So I see people just smoking and watching inside.”

Ceballos says the problems started when the marijuana dispensaries opened.

He believes the issues would be somewhat mitigated if the businesses had proper licensing.

“Yeah, it would be better, like a little more control over what’s happening.”

Senso agrees part of the issue arises from questions about zoning.

“How close can they be to a church? How close can they be to a bus stop? Or a school bus stop. That’s a major concern.”

He also mentions the tax dollars the community is losing while the pot shops operate unchecked.

“I want to either those shops to be legalized and get it straight here, so that we know that they’re legal. Or they got to close them down.”

As of Jan. 2, The Sheriff’s Department said they had no record of citations or additional information on these two locations.

Code enforcement and the County’s executive office did not response to a request for information on ths status of open civil cases or code violations.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s office said it did not have an update as to any action taken against the two shops operating without licenses or permits.

However, in a statement to KESQ in December, now-retired Riverside County spokesperson Ray Smith said “Since 2013 the county has shut down 95 dispensaries in unincorporated areas through the civil process. This year the county stopped approximately 31 dispensaries from operating.”

Smith continued “Civil cases are filed against dispensaries that continue to operate in violation of county ordinances. But if County Counsel/Code Enforcement bring a civil case against a dispensary, that does not precluded the District Attorney from filing a criminal case. It is not an either/or proposition.”

“Applications for land use Permits for cannabis activities – testing, distribution, wholesale nurseries and manufacturing will be accepted on December 26, 2018, after the ordinance (in Riverside County) takes effect. The Conditional Use Permit application will be the required application and the ordinance dictates any additional items required for submittal.

Applications for any type of cultivation or retail sales will not be accepted on that date. These activities are required to go through a request for proposal process (RFP) that will kick off, after the first of the year (in 2019).”