LAKEPORT >> With the required four-fifths vote, the Lake County Board of Supervisors approved an Urgency Ordinance to allow marijuana growers to apply for a state permit when the recreational use law goes into effect on January 1.
The county is still in the process of defining rules for the farming, processing and sales of cannabis. In the absence of local regulations, the Urgency Ordinance will allow those who are currently compliant with the state to continue operations and apply for licenses. The ordinance also buys more time for the county to develop and approve a permanent ordinance.
Had the Urgency Ordinance fallen short of the necessary votes, current growers would been asked to discontinue their operations.
County Council Anita Grant, who drafted the ordinance with the assistance of Community Development Director Bob Massarelli, said the ordinance needs to be specific and concise.
According to the emergency measure, those who qualify for a temporary license through the state hold both a Water Board Permit and have applied and been approved for the Self Certification process under Article 72 Ordinance for medical marijuana.
“During the period of time that this Urgency Ordinance is in place and a permanent ordinance for commercial cannabis cultivation is made final in Lake County, those persons who have completed Self Certification under article 72 and have been approved and have signed affidavits of compliance by state and local quorums be effective the date of this ordinance shall be issued a letter of authorization,” Grant said.
The emergency ordinance pertains to outdoor cultivation. The Ordinance will be effective immediately and will remain for a period of 45 days and can then be approved for additional periods of time.
According to Massarelli, there are only 65 people in the county who have Water Board Permits and 13 who applied for the Self Certification process. Those who are looking to get state permits and grow will need to be approved for the Self Certification process by the Community Development Department.
“The 13 applications we have in have been distributed to the five planners and so they are all being processed right now. We are going as fast as we can,” Massarelli said.
He added that even though an individual comes in and fills out the application for Self Certification, the department still needs to go out and make sure the grower is in compliance with the regulations. If there are violations found during the inspection, growers may potentially not be able to have the ability to cultivate for two years.
With the exception of the few licenses, the ordinance also places a moratorium over the unincorporated areas of the county against the cultivation, distribution, transport, storage, manufacturing, processing, testing and sale of commercial cannabis until further review of the impacts of the recent state-issued regulations and a more established ordinance is in place.
The county will be addressing the issue further at monthly meetings over the next six months.
