LAKEPORT — The Lake County Planning Commission decided to continue the public hearing on a proposed medical marijuana cultivation ordinance to late July after discussing the issue for nearly four hours Thursday.
The move marked the second time in three days a county body delayed making a decision on an ordinance related to medical marijuana. The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) continued its hearing on a dispensaries ordinance on Tuesday after receiving more than four hours of public input.
Nearly 40 citizens attended Thursday”s hearing at the Lake County Courthouse, where the commission considered whether to recommend the BOS approve the cultivation ordinance drafted by county staff.
“The overall broad objective of this ordinance is to allow individual qualified patients to cultivate medical marijuana in limited quantities that does not result in the creation of nuisance conditions upon their neighbors, and does not create health and safety violations,” according to Community Development Director Rick Coel.
The draft ordinance sought to establish regulations by which qualified people could grow medical marijuana individually or as part of a cooperative or collective organization in the unincorporated areas of the county.
County staff tried to create a series of “reasonable practices” when developing the proposed regulations, Coel said. “The intent is not to restrict patient access (but to) address land-use and nuisance issues associated with excess growth,” he said.
A majority of the 15 citizen speakers Thursday, however, disagreed with many of the proposed regulations and the rationale behind some of staff”s recommendations.
One significant point of contention was the set of proposed restrictions on personal grows.
Staff recommended limiting qualifying individuals to a maximum of six mature or 12 immature plants on parcels within seven specific zoning districts. The same plant total would apply for indoor or outdoor personal grows.
“A lot of people need more than six plants; it depends how you use them,” Ron Green, a Lower Lake attorney, said.
Green also argued there should be different plant totals for indoor and outdoor growers because indoor plants can yield less of the medicinal product than outdoor plants.
Suggested restrictions on personal outdoor grows included not allowing cultivation sites within 15 feet of property lines, mandating a locking gate and in areas that do not adversely affect neighbors” health or safety.
For indoor personal growing, staff recommended not allowing activities in kitchens, bathrooms or master bedrooms, limiting grow areas to 100 square feet, requiring ventilation that prevents odor and mold problems, and utilizing indoor lighting that does not exceed 1,200 watts.
Personal growers operating under the proposed guidelines would not be required to obtain permits for their medical marijuana cultivation.
Certain cooperatives or collective growing sites would require a minor use permit under the proposed ordinance.
Such not-for-profit groups could grow a maximum of six mature or 12 immature plants at a site without permit approval, but if cultivation at the site exceeds those totals, a minor use permit would need to be obtained. The organizations could not grow more than 99 plants at any one site, according to the ordinance.
The collective or cooperative grow sites would need to be outside community growth boundaries on property of five acres or more in certain zoning districts.
The ordinance suggested a number of site and permit requirements, including annual monitoring by the Lake County Sheriff”s Office paid for by the applicant, permit renewal every two years, identification of water source and setbacks from neighboring properties.
Several speakers said they disagreed with some of the grow-site requirements as well as the proposed use permitting process, arguing instead that the county should implement an alternative permitting process, similar to licensing.
Coel said staff strongly supported the proposed land-use permit process because excessive grows can negatively impact the environment and the property”s neighbors. The county would also have to develop an entirely new permitting process, if the ordinance did not utilize existing land-use permit procedures, he said.
Some large grow-sites have become a public nuisance and an issue for the county, according to Coel, who said the main problem is no local ordinance currently exists to establish reasonable limits for large cooperative grows.
District 3 Commissioner Olga Martin Steele said she agrees the county needs to develop a law that allows responsible individuals and organizations to cultivate medical marijuana while also prohibiting negligent practices.
“We have to know who is doing this for legitimate reasons and who is not doing this for legitimate reasons,” she said.
The commission decided to continue the public hearing after receiving the public input, allowing more time for staff to incorporate certain issues (such as distinguishing indoor and outdoor plant limits) into the draft.
The commission gave consensus to continue the hearing to July 28 at 10 a.m. Chair Bob Malley was absent from Thursday”s commission meeting.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
