Clearlake >> The Lake County Registrar of Voters office verified enough signatures to meet requirements for a referendum challenging the Clearlake’s current no-grow marijuana ordinance on Monday.
The petition seeks to place the ordinance on a ballot and let citizens decide on whether or not to uphold the cultivation ban.
Opponents needed to collect 630 valid signatures from registered voters and of the 1,200 submitted, 635 were verified, according to Clearlake City Clerk Melissa Swanson. She is currently working with the city attorney exploring options for the council to consider at its May 14 meeting.
The petition was filed with the city March 26, just weeks after the Clearlake City Council passed the new ordinance on the grounds that cultivation threatens the public’s safety “based on the value of marijuana plants, threat of break-ins, robbery and theft,” according to ordinance text, as well as the “skunk-like fumes” the plant produces.
Clearlake joins Live Oak and Fresno as one of only three cities in California with an all-out ban. Before the current ordinance took effect in April, the city allowed medical marijuana patients to grow anywhere from six to 48 plants, depending on the size of the resident’s parcel and other factors, including distances from neighbors, schools and child care centers.
However, the costs associated with enforcement, estimated by city officials to be at more than $100,000, and time required by police officers to answer complaints, made the council reevaluate its ordinance.
After several packed city council meetings, the council approved the ban in late February.
Under the ordinance a person — patient or not — found to be growing marijuana, will first receive an abatement notice with 15 days to eradicate the plants, during which time the person has the right to schedule a hearing to defend the grow. If the person does not comply, he or she faces a $1,000 penalty and an additional charge of $100 per plant per day.
If the work is not done within the time allotted, the city will have the right to “abate the nuisance without further notification,” according to the ordinance. Additionally, the property owner would be responsible for all costs associated with the removal.
While opponents say the ordinance is too restrictive, city officials maintain that it does not take away a patient’s right to have marijuana or to purchase it from one of the city’s dispensaries.
However, buying from dispensaries for some patients is cost-restrictive. And, Clearlake City Councilman Bruno Sabatier, who cast the only dissenting vote, said at the Feb. 26 council meeting that he worried about the language in which “storage” is included as part of the definition of cultivation, which could make even possession of pot illegal and could make the city a target for costly legal action.
Swanson said the May 14 city council meeting agenda with the petition listed as an item should be released by Friday. The city council will meet at 6 p.m. at Clearlake City Hall, located at 14050 Olympic Drive.
