CLEARLAKE >> The Clearlake City Council plans to entertain a third reading of the proposed medical marijuana ordinance at its regular meeting today — the potential law’s fourth public hearing in a little more than three months.
Although many expected it to be approved at the Jan. 28 meeting, councilmembers made some minor changes to the ordinance regarding the reissuance of non-commercial grow permits to code violators because specific regulations didn’t exist in the language.
Now, the current draft would require previous offenders, after they served their ban of five years, to pay all outstanding fines before a new permit can be acquired.
The council also removed a provision that changed the distances of the fenced grows to five feet from all sides of the property. That amendment was a clerical error by City Manager Greg Folsom, who assumed that the five members came to consensus on it during the first reading when, in fact, they disagreed with Councilman Bruno Sabatier’s suggestion.
Thus, the ordinance will still mandate that the 100-square foot fence grows be 10 feet from any property boundary and be five feet from the residence.
So far, the public has mostly been supportive at the last three public hearings, which also includes the Clearlake Planning Commission’s December meeting. The only dissatisfaction expressed during public comment was the ordinance’s firm exclusion of commercial grows. Even then, the dissenters are supportive for a large portion of it, which only allows personal use grows to have no more than six plants.
“Hopefully it [the ordinance] will come up for the final time ..,” Folsom said at a special city council meeting last week, when the medical marijuana ordinance came up during his presentation that celebrated the city’s achievements halfway through the 2015-2016 fiscal year. It also discussed the priorities for the city until it ends on June 30.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m.
