Newport Beach lawsuit seeks to ban marijuana business that operated in residential neighborhoods

Newport Beach officials are asking an Orange County Superior Court judge to block a marijuana business from operating in two homes in violation of city law.

A civil lawsuit filed May 4 seeks an injunction to forbid the business — known as OC Healing House, Bud Man OC and Bud Man Newport Beach — from operating at a home on Drakes Bay Drive in Corona del Mar and a home on Promontory Drive in Newport’s Promontory Point community.

The city attorney’s office says the business was using the homes for marijuana delivery and distribution. The lawsuit calls the business a “public nuisance.”

Cultivation, processing, distribution and delivery of cannabis has been banned in Newport Beach since 2016. Brick-and-mortar dispensaries also are prohibited, according to the municipal code.

“The decision was made years ago in Newport Beach that we’re not going to allow that type of activity,” City Attorney Aaron Harp said Wednesday. “We’re just enforcing the laws.”

In response, Bud Man has stopped operating in the residential neighborhoods and is talking with the city’s attorneys, according to Harp.

Nicholas Frank, who is listed in court papers as the operator of Bud Man, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Bud Man Newport Beach is listed on Weedmaps — an online marijuana forum that allows users to review cannabis strains and local dispensaries — as a delivery-only business selling marijuana herbs, wax, extracts, edibles, topical products and tinctures. Customers on the website give it 4.8 out of a possible five stars.

Police and city officials began investigating the matter in February after officers received a tip from a neighbor Jan. 29 about suspicious activities at the Drakes Bay Drive home, including people coming and going at odd hours, according to police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella.

It isn’t clear how the city determined the Promontory Drive property was involved.

A hearing on the lawsuit has not been set, according to court records.

[email protected]

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN

UPDATES:

5:15 p.m. Aug. 6: This article originally included the specific addresses of two homes that city officials alleged were being used for marijuana delivery and distribution. The article has been updated to remove the house numbers for privacy reasons.

This article was originally published at 4:15 p.m. May 30.