CLEARLAKE >> The Clearlake City Council plans to hear the first reading of an ordinance at its regular meeting on Thursday that would specifically prohibit alcohol possession in municipal parks and beaches.
According to Clearlake Police Department Lt. Tim Celli, language regarding the matter was found to be missing from a section of the city’s municipal code that regulates behavior at recreational areas. Celli and City Clerk Melissa Swanson believe it was mistakenly removed in April 2008, when the council passed an ordinance allowing special alcohol permits for large group events.
“We cannot locate an explanation as to why this section was removed,” he said in a related staff report.
Open containers in parks is still illegal under another code, the lieutenant noted, but the law’s absence has been apparently felt by the CPD with officers often experiencing “vagrants” storing alcoholic beverages in strategic locations within the park for later consumption.
“There’s still open alcoholic beverage ordinance that makes it illegal to drink anywhere in public,” Celli added. “This deals with possession in the parks.”
Marijuana abatement
The council will also consider the first medical marijuana cultivation abatement appeals since it enacted its overhaul ordinance in March.
City documents indicate four appellants will be heard: two for growing on a vacant lot, one for growing within 600 feet of a licensed day care facility, and the other for an unregistered grow of more than the maximum six plants in an unapproved accessory grow area.
According to Clearlake code enforcement supervisor Lee Lambert, the growers face a $300 fine and one-year suspension of their cultivation privileges if the appeals aren’t granted. Regardless of their outcomes, though, these decisions will set the precedent for future hearings.
“This is the first year we are having these types of appeals, so there is no history to go on,” he said.
The cases are part of 165 abatement cases the city has opened since the ordinance’s passage nearly six months ago, which outlawed all commercial cultivation and limited all personal growing to six plants. Lambert said residents are mostly compliant with the legislation, reporting a voluntary rate of about 47 percent.
“I think it’s been very successful this year,” he added.
Seventy abatement cases remain open in the city. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. Thursday in Clearlake City Hall.
