CLEARLAKE >> Eleven marijuana abatement appeals are lined up on the Clearlake City Council agenda at a special meeting on Monday. This brings the total number of marijuana grow hearings to somewhere around 30.
As Clearlake police have cracked down on tens of thousands of alleged commercial grows, the city grapples with medical marijuana violations. According to city documents, all of the upcoming meeting’s appellants were growing without a permit. In each case they were allegedly growing more than the legal maximum of six plants or were located areas where grows are prohibited.
Some point out the appeals process allows people to continue to operate beyond the law.
When asked about the recent multitude of appeals, Councilwoman Joyce Overton said some of them are strategic — meant to delay the abatement procedure.
“[It] gives them time to process their plants,” she said, adding that people receive an additional 10 days if their appeal is denied. “Normally, the landlords show up.”
Code enforcement has proven to be ponderous, when it comes to medical marijuana violations. Since this wave of hearings started around early September, the council has denied every appeal except one. That person, however, was only given a continuance, according to Overton.
“They have to prove that our code enforcers were wrong,” she added.
Despite the influx, though, the councilwoman doesn’t expect more of these meetings in the future because the cultivation season is concluding.
Each appellant faces a ban for next grow season.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m., Oct. 10., at Clearlake City Hall.
Councilman Bruno Sabatier and Mayor Russ Perdock did not return calls for comment.
