LAKE COUNTY — The Lake County Farm Bureau (LCFB) is opposing Measure “D,” the Medical Marijuana Cultivation Act of 2012, because of its possible impact on the Lake County Right to Farm ordinance, a representative said.
David Rosenthal, LCFB Second Vice President, said the organization is concerned that the passage of Measure “D” could see the Board of Supervisors (BOS) rescind the Right to Farm ordinance, which was incorporated into the language of Measure “D.”
“If this passes and there are problems with marijuana grow (sites), then the county has the right to rescind the Right to Farm ordinance so that it can”t be used as protections for marijuana growers,” Rosenthal said. “We would then lose that protection.”
Rosenthal explained the Right to Farm ordinance, which exists at both the county and state level, offers protection to farmers from neighbor complaints for nuisances related to agricultural production such as early morning noise, the smells from approved pesticide usage and water irrigation practices.
“When people buy property next to agricultural land, the realtors are supposed to have them sign waivers that acknowledge the nuisance but they have no legitimate right to gripe about it,” he said.
Rosenthal said one issue the LCFB has with the incorporation of the Right to Farm ordinance in Measure “D” is that to receive the ordinance”s protection, the crop must be a recognized agricultural product.
“It (marijuana) is not (a recognized agricultural product),” he said.
He said farmers at the state and county level worked hard to get protections from government.
“It (the Right to Farm ordinance) was pushed by farmers for many years,” he said. “Farmers worked long and hard to avoid neighbor issues.”
He said proponents of Measure “D” might use the Right to Farm ordinance for protection to grow marijuana and not follow the rules of agricultural growing.
“It puts the Right to Farm ordinance at risk,” he said. “Because of that, other county farm bureaus and state farm bureaus are concerned about this.”
Don Merrill, a representative from the Lake County Citizens for Responsible Regulations group that helped place Measure “D” on the ballot, said he looked at the Lake County and California Right to Farm ordinances when the ballot measure was being written.
“I see no problems whatsoever with the Right to Farm ordinance being applied to cannabis, hemp or marijuana,” Merrill said. “It”s a farmed crop.”
Merrill said Measure “D” opponents are avoiding the main issue the ballot measure is trying to solve.
“We should be talking about how there are too many (marijuana) plants right now and what to do about them,” he said. “That”s what Measure ”D” was geared for. The argument needs to be that right now, anybody in Lake County can grow as many plants as they want. It”s uncontrolled and out of control.”
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Follow on Twitter: @KevinNHume.
