LAKEPORT >> The Lake County Planning Commission will hold its first workshop on the overhaul of marijuana cultivation at its regular meeting today.
The biggest development in the process to amend Article 72, commonly known as Measure N, is the community development department’s release of maps outlining areas excluded from growing. At this point in the process the maps are up for discussion. They are not close to being finalized.
“Do not make decisions based on these maps,” department director Bob Massarelli said emphatically in a staff report. “The purpose of this workshop is to get commission and public input on these criteria … the final maps will come back to the commission in November for consideration.”
A total of nine maps were released by the department last week. Each one visualizes individual prohibitions found in the proposed ordinance like community growth boundaries, prime agricultural soils, public land, regions that have 30 percent slope of more, etc.
The maps indicate that cultivation will be kept out of the heart of the county’s towns, including a mile wide buffer zone. Finley and unincorporated Clearlake weren’t highlighted, but they were excluded in the map marking public and private water districts.
In versions of the plan, buffer zones are drawn around private water districts.
“Additional criteria will be added during the development of the ordinance,” Massarelli added.
Along with the maps, the commission will discuss an amendment to the general plan and grandfather provisions for those already in compliance with Measure N.
Regarding the latter, the idea is to allow personal and collective medical grows to continue. The rules for them will remain the same but a public hearing will still be held.
For the general plan, the only change will be language recognizing commercial medical marijuana growing as a legitimate enterprise and allows the county to regulate it. The goal is to protect communities “from the negative impacts of cannabis cultivation, preserving traditional agriculture, and protecting the environment.”
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Lake County Courthouse.
