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BOCANEWSPAPER.COM
APRIL | 2019
Medical marijuana dispensaries to Boca? By: Diane Emeott Korzen Contributing Writer After declaring a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in Boca Raton nearly 5 years ago, Boca City Council has made a move to possibly allow them in the city. At a recent city council workshop, the topic allowing medical marijuana dispensaries to open in the city was discussed at length. The council ultimately directed staff to prepare an ordinance on allowing medical marijuana dispensaries after hearing from a number of impassioned experts and residents. Folks enjoying the Sea Turtle Day Festival at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. Photo by Joanie Cox-Henry.
Coastal Connection launches at Sea Turtle Day Festival at Gumbo Limbo By: Joanie Cox-Henry Contributing Writer With roughly 8 million tons of plastic thrown into the ocean annually, marine life is suffering, especially sea turtles. To further efforts to protect marine life locally, the City of Boca Raton launched, Coastal Connection, on March 2 at the Sea Turtle Day Festival at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.
Partnering with Gumbo Limbo, the program is an environmental initiative geared toward recognizing those who are acknowledging their role in their coastal community to create positive change. Throughout 2019, the city is focusing on a restaurant program to encourage businesses to initiate ways
to become more environmentally conscious. The Sea Turtle Day Festival drew hundreds of visitors to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center to learn more about this program and the daily efforts this conservation center is doing to rehabilitate and protect sea turtles and other marine life. “This is our eleventh year,” said Michele Kurucz-Peel, president of Friends of Gumbo Limbo, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting the research, education, conservation and preservation efforts of Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. “Our goal with this festival each year is education. It’s an opportunity to tell the community about how we can all work to make a change. This year, our theme is ‘Plastic free by the sea’ and while getting rid of straws is a great start, there is so much more we can do to protect sea turtles. Come to our Sea Turtle Rehab Facility at Gumbo Limbo and see humankind’s impact on on these precious animals.”
Visitors check out the sea turtles at Gumbo Limbo during Sea Turtle Festival Day. Photo by Joanie Cox-Henry.
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“I join with my colleagues in directing staff to draft regulations that would give residents access and revisit our zoning laws in the city,” said Mayor Scott Singer, adding that the size of the facility and the distance separation from other facilities should be considered. “We’ve been besieged by attacks on Home Rule [from state and federal government]. Had we not had this, the City of Boca Raton would likely have had something in place by now.” As of press time the Boca City Clerk’s office said the ordinance was still being drafted and was not yet scheduled for a date to go before the council. Boca Raton was one of the first municipalities in Palm Beach County to place a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in October 2014. The vote was unanimous. Since then, the city council has been revisiting the item annually and extending the moratorium. During the workshop, about 10 folks spoke on the subject. Dr. Dominik Chrzan, a board-certified
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Mayor Scott Singer gets counsel on allowing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in Boca from City Attorney Diana Grub Frieser during the Feb. 25 workshop meeting. Photo by Diane Emeott Korzen.