The Planning Commission approved the addition of rural land use for medical marijuana. In addition, commissioners gave the nod to a Designed Professional instead of a License Surveyor for the plot plan.
As a next step in amending specific sections for Article 72, the commission will be giving their recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for approval of medical marijuana cultivation.
Mireya Turner, Associate Planner for Lake County, said the supervisors will now need to hold a public hearing from the Planning Commission recommendation. But she warned that schedule constraints mean the earliest a meeting will be able to occur is June 20.
Other directions the Board of Supervisors have given staff for the Article 72 ordinance are to establish a self-certification compliance process, create a pilot program, and to give priority to those who were compliant with the article and have documentation in support. This group must also receive a Tier 3 permit from the State Water Quality Board.
Bob Massarelli, Director of the Planning Division, said the ordinance does not include a permitting system, so there is no way to check if people are in compliance with Article 72. This is why the self-certification compliance process is being put in place.
Self-certification will allow monitoring and inspection to ensure compliance by the county.
“The intent of the Board of Supervisors is to allow those who are compliant with Article 72 to have priority in the implementation for the pilot program for the new cannabis ordinance that is adopted,” Massarelli said.
In a few weeks Massarelli said he will be bringing a replacement ordinance for the Article 72 for the Planning Commission to review. Other issues will be addressed and there will be a more extensive review on medical marijuana cultivation, along with an in depth vision for the pilot program.
Lake County Planning Commission Chair Bob Malley said although he does not approve of the growing of marijuana, it is now California state law. He said regulation must be fine tuned.
“This is not my favorite subject, and we’ve been handling these cases, laws, ordinances and articles for many years now. If anything it has become more and more onerous on the county to come up with ways to protect itself versus allowing the state of California to set rules for us to live by,” Malley said. “I am not in favor of the ordinance for California law that passed, but I don’t have any choice.”
Although some members of the public do not want marijuana growing around them or near their homes and worry about their safety and theft, regulating the cultivation and updating Article 72 is going to be the best way to ensure the safety of the people in the county and make sure the growing of marijuana is done properly.
