After successfully garnering enough signatures on a petition in September, medical marijuana proponents in Palo Alto succeeded in securing a spot on the November 2012 ballot to determine voter support for medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.

The Palo Alto city council decided on Tuesday to send the issue to voters during the 2012 elections, rather than to approve the measure outright. The council could have immediately enacted the measure, similarly to how it outright banned the dispensaries in 1997, but instead chose to leave the decision to voters in a unanimous 7-0 decision.

The decision means that voters will decide whether to approve the establishment of up to three marijuana-dispensary locations in the city. Palo Alto voters have voted favorably on similar measures; over half of Palo Alto voters approved of Proposition 19, which sought to legalize marijuana in the state of California.

Restrictions would apply to dispensaries if they were set up; some requirement include that the dispensaries to be located far away from parks, schools and daycare centers, as well as to only be open from 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. They would also be subject to a four-percent tax on all sales, as well as a $10,000 permit fee to establish business.

If passed, the measure would make Palo Alto the 49th city in California to allow and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits.

— Brendan O’Byrne