Council initiates medical marijuana ordinance A Sept. 13 City Council decision initiated an ordinance to create zoning laws for medical marijuana dispensaries. The vote directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance following recommendations from the Citizen’s Medical Marijuana Task Force, said District 1 City Councilwoman Sherri Lightner representative Alex Varon. “The ordinance would only apply to land use regulations,” Varon said. “Enforcement and guidelines for caregivers and patients is on a separate track and was not considered.” One motion the City Council voted for changes the definition of “school” in the zoning ordinance to include colleges, universities and other higher education institutions. Varon said that once the City Attorney completes a draft ordinance, it would be heard by the Land Use & Housing Technical Advisory Committee, the city’s Code Monitoring Team and the Planning Commission before returning to the City Council. “The best estimate for Council to hear the ordinance is early January,” Varon said. Burglary and assault suspects face hearing Two men face a Sept. 21 preliminary hearing on charges they burglarized a La Jolla woman’s home and that one of them sexually assaulted her. Bryan Patrick Silva and Xavzier Pernell Paschal, both 21 and from San Diego, are accused of breaking into the woman’s Westbourne Street home on Aug. 11 and taking some of her property. Silva is charged with sexually assaulting her at 4 a.m. as she was asleep in her bed at the time, according to court records. Silva is also charged with sexual battery. The 22-year-old victim woke up, screamed and the burglars ran off, according to court records. San Diego Police pulled over a car on Nautilus Avenue and arrested both men. Silva remains free on $50,000 bond, while Paschal remains at the George Bailey Detention Facility on $25,000 bail. Both have pleaded not guilty. — Neal Putnam Murder suspect ordered to mental hospital A University City man accused of killing his father has been committed to Patton State Hospital after a judge ruled he was not mentally competent to stand trial. Nikola Chivatchev, 25, does not have the mental capacity to make a decision about taking anti-psychotic medication that he needed to take for his mental disorder, ruled San Diego Superior Court Judge Howard Shore after he read psychiatric evaluations of Chivatchev. Chivatchev is accused of using a 12-pound dumbbell to hit his father, Alexander Chivatchev, 64, in the head while he was asleep at 1:15 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2009. Police responded to a frantic 911 call by the victim’s wife to their home in the 9100 block of Judicial Drive. —Neal Putnam