CLEARLAKE >> The Clearlake City Council made small changes to the proposed medical marijuana ordinance and held it off on a final vote. Instead, the council opted for a third reading, scheduled for the regular meeting next month.
Based on the five-year ban amendment the council made on Jan. 14, Vice Mayor Gina Fortino Dickson noted that the current draft was missing specific language regarding the reissue of permits after such penalty. According to Mayor Russ Perdock, Fortino Dickson wanted to make sure that outstanding fines were paid before a new one can be obtained.
“It’s like you can’t check out library books until you pay for late books,” Perdock said, adding that the council was in consensus with Fortino-Dickson’s idea. “They would need to be in good standing before they reapply.”
Another change was to correct a mistake in the approval. City Manager Greg Folsom thought the council was in agreement to change the distances of the grows to five feet from all sides of the property. Although that idea was favored by Councilman Bruno Sabatier, the rest of the council did not agree.
This means that grows must still be five feet from the residence and 10 feet from all property lines.
Perdock said that some members of the public still made suggestions to include commercial growing to sell to dispensaries and collectives. However, the council has made it clear that this ordinance is about clamping down on the problems created by the current ordinance.
“We’re focused on residential areas, not agriculture,” the mayor said. The council may visit the topic at a later time and make changes to its current dispensary ordinance.
“I’m very happy and proud of the council. We’re moving in the right direction,” he added.
