LAKEPORT — The second reading of an ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries had some citizens urging the Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) not to pass the ordinance Tuesday.
The ordinance, which regulates medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated parts of the county, was passed on the first reading at the Aug. 9 BOS meeting by a vote of 3-2, with supervisors Denise Rushing and Jeff Smith dissenting.
Rushing said she had received many phone calls asking her why she dissented. She said she voted no because former Lake County supervisor Ed Robey, attorney Ron Green and the Lake County Chamber of Commerce produced a list of 15 items for the BOS to go through and make changes in the ordinance. Because the BOS did not do this, Rushing dissented.
During the hearing on the ordinance at last week”s BOS meeting, Rushing said, “The existing dispensary group isn”t the source of our problem.”
Ron Green said the BOS rushed through the ordinance vote last week at the end of a long day. He said most of the 15 items he helped bring before the BOS had not been discussed. He asked the BOS to spend more time on the ordinance to get it right.
Scott Green, who owns a building in downtown Upper Lake where a dispensary currently exists, said the passage of the ordinance will cause him to lose his building because his tenant will move out, leaving him unable to rent the building out. Scott Green said his tenant runs a respectable business and urged the BOS to take more time on the ordinance.
Rushing said the owners of the other buildings along Main Street in downtown Upper Lake supported the dispensary being there.
The owners of a dispensary in Middletown threatened action against the BOS and said if the ordinance is passed they would get the necessary amount of signatures to repeal it.
There are 10 dispensaries in the unincorporated parts of the county. The ordinance would reduce this number to five dispensaries operated by collective or cooperative organizations, which was suggested by the Lake County Planning Commission.
There may be dispensaries in six specific mapped-out areas of the county, a move by the BOS that deviated from staff recommendations.
Ron Green said this move gives power to landlords, which he said is unfair.
The planning commission and county staff recommended allowing dispensaries in specific zoning areas, such as Community Commercial District (C2), service commercial (C3), commercial/manufacturing (M1) or heavy industrial (M2) zoning.
The maps for the specified areas are included in the ordinance. The areas are designated zones in the Coyote Valley section of Hidden Valley Lake along Highway 29 between Guenoc Lane and Grange Road; areas of unincorporated Lakeport along the South Main Street corridor; a section in Clearlake Oaks along Highway 20 at the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Oak Grove Avenue; a section in Lucerne along Highway 20 in between Second and Third avenues; and two sections of Upper Lake, one section is across the street from the Super 8 Motel on Highway 20 and the other section is near the intersection of highways 20 and 29.
Rushing said she wanted to reconsider the maps. District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said he did not get caught up in the zoning and mapping but if other supervisors wanted to reconsider remapping, the BOS could look at other mapping opportunities. The maps were not reconsidered by the BOS.
Farrington said he would not be changing his position. He said for any who weren”t happy with the decision to pursue the referendum process.
District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown asked if people could bring back issues related to the mapping to the BOS at any time, which was confirmed by County Counsel Anita Grant.
Rushing asked Grant if other parts of the ordinance could be amended in the future. Grant said the amendment process could be amended at any time.
The ordinance was passed by a 3-2 vote that mirrored the vote from last week, with Rushing and Smith dissenting. The ordinance will take effect Sept. 16.
