Sup.Ct.App.Div.;
BR 053046

The Appellate Division of the Los Angeles County Superior Court reversed a judgment of dismissal. The court held that a medical marijuana business's attempted registration at the wrong city office did not constitute “substantial compliance” with the city's registration requirement.

On August 1, 2007, the Los Angeles City Council passed Interim Control Ordinance No. 179027 (ICO). The ICO imposed a moratorium on new medical marijuana businesses (MMB's) and required existing MMB's to cease operations. The ICO contained an exception for MMB's that were established before the effective date of the ICO, if they registered with the City Clerk by November 13, 2007. Toluca Lake Collective, Inc. (TLC) was an MMB that was purportedly open and operating prior to August 1. On October 15, 2007, a TLC representative purportedly went to the city offices in the Van Nuys Government Center to register TLC as an MMB. In 2014, a misdemeanor complaint was filed charging TLC and its principals with operating an unlawful MMB in violation of the Los Angeles Municipal Code.