Pot shop forced to close

Owners of a marijuana dispensary in National City must shut down their shop and repay the city investigative costs and civil penalties as part of a stipulation judgment.

Herban Legend Inc. opened at 317 National City Blvd. on May 27 but the city of National City filed a lawsuit against the property and business owners for abatement of public nuisance.

Court records show that Nathan Lake and Robert Brent Eakes, owners of Herban Legend, agreed to a stipulation to avoid the expense of a trial.

“The parties wish to avoid the burden and expense of further litigation and accordingly have determined to compromise and settle their differences in accordance with the provisions of this stipulation,” court records state. A stipulation judgment is an agreement made by both the plaintiff and defendants to avoid a trial.

Attorney John Tremblatt, who represents Lake and Eakes, did not return phone messages seeking comment for this story.

“What happened in this case is we actually settled with both parties (the property owners and business owners),” said Jennifer Knight, National City’s deputy city attorney.

“A stipulated judgment is preferable because for us it saves the city money, basically we don’t have to go through a whole trial if the other side agrees to what we want.”

Under the judgment, defendants must reimburse $1,718 to National City for its investigative costs into the dispensary by police and code enforcement.

Investigation costs account for the officers’ salaries and time spent into the investigation, Knight said.

Defendants must pay $22,500 in civil penalties that could be worth up to $50,000 if the stipulation is violated.
Costs of civil penalties are determined by the number of days the business was in operation, Knight said.

A provision in National City’s land use code prohibits marijuana dispensaries.

“You just can’t operate a (dispensary) in our city,” Knight said.