Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Neighbors offended by the smell coming from a Two Rivers pot farm have gone to the state and the borough looking for relief. They have found none.
The business is Herbal Instincts, an outdoor marijuana growing operation on Ream Lane, about 15 miles down Chena Hot Spring Road.
The pot farm is on property zoned for agricultural use.
"We can't open windows in our house because the stench is so bad," Ole Christenson, who lives near Herbal Instincts, told the Borough Assembly on Thursday.
His neighbor, Jacqueline Bock, said the smell gives her headaches. Her husband, Ron, said it smells like a skunk.
Heidi Christenson, Ole's wife, said she would prefer to smell manure.
They sought to have the assembly protest Herbal Instincts' license, which is up for renewal soon before the Alaska Marijuana Control Board.
The assembly voted 5-3, deciding not to protest the license.
"If you can't allow a cultivation business on agricultural property, I don't know where you can allow it," Assemblyman Van Lawrence said.
In July, a complaint about odor at the pot farm was made to the state.
The business, owned by Cristopher Konopka and Jessica Huff, was issued an "advisory notice" that no violation of state regulation or laws warranted action by the Marijuana Control Board.
State rules say little about odor from marijuana businesses. Even less is said in the local code of ordinances.
Under Alaska Administrative Code, marijuana cultivation facilities must ensure that marijuana "does not emit an odor that is detectable by the public from outside the cultivation facility except as allowed by a local government conditional use permit process."
The borough has no conditional-use permits on marijuana odor.
Whether a bad smell is coming from the farm is disputed.
Friends and supporters of Konopka and Huff told the Borough Assembly that they have visited the property, and they noticed no strong smell.
Konopka said in an interview that the smell is during flowering and lasts about three or four weeks.
"We are zoned for agriculture. We could have a horse farm. We could have a pig farm," he said.
Under the plan for the business that was approved by the state, Konopka is allowed to permeate the odor outdoors.
"There is no grow that you can't smell. It's part of the business," he said. "We are following all state law and regulations."
James Hoelscher, chief investigator for the state of Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, said Herbal Instincts is doing more than what state rules require for dealing with odor.
The grower reportedly has placed fans on the greenhouses to try to vent the air away from neighbors.
Hoelscher said the advisory notice is like a fix-it ticket or a warning to address the problem.
"If we get more complaints about the odor and the odor is not dissipating as per their operating plan, we will have no choice but to write up a violation and bring it to the board," Hoelscher said.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Odor from marijuana grow bothers neighbors | Local News | newsminer.com
Author: Amanda Bohman
Contact: Contact Us | Site | newsminer.com
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: newsminer.com | The voice of Interior Alaska
The business is Herbal Instincts, an outdoor marijuana growing operation on Ream Lane, about 15 miles down Chena Hot Spring Road.
The pot farm is on property zoned for agricultural use.
"We can't open windows in our house because the stench is so bad," Ole Christenson, who lives near Herbal Instincts, told the Borough Assembly on Thursday.
His neighbor, Jacqueline Bock, said the smell gives her headaches. Her husband, Ron, said it smells like a skunk.
Heidi Christenson, Ole's wife, said she would prefer to smell manure.
They sought to have the assembly protest Herbal Instincts' license, which is up for renewal soon before the Alaska Marijuana Control Board.
The assembly voted 5-3, deciding not to protest the license.
"If you can't allow a cultivation business on agricultural property, I don't know where you can allow it," Assemblyman Van Lawrence said.
In July, a complaint about odor at the pot farm was made to the state.
The business, owned by Cristopher Konopka and Jessica Huff, was issued an "advisory notice" that no violation of state regulation or laws warranted action by the Marijuana Control Board.
State rules say little about odor from marijuana businesses. Even less is said in the local code of ordinances.
Under Alaska Administrative Code, marijuana cultivation facilities must ensure that marijuana "does not emit an odor that is detectable by the public from outside the cultivation facility except as allowed by a local government conditional use permit process."
The borough has no conditional-use permits on marijuana odor.
Whether a bad smell is coming from the farm is disputed.
Friends and supporters of Konopka and Huff told the Borough Assembly that they have visited the property, and they noticed no strong smell.
Konopka said in an interview that the smell is during flowering and lasts about three or four weeks.
"We are zoned for agriculture. We could have a horse farm. We could have a pig farm," he said.
Under the plan for the business that was approved by the state, Konopka is allowed to permeate the odor outdoors.
"There is no grow that you can't smell. It's part of the business," he said. "We are following all state law and regulations."
James Hoelscher, chief investigator for the state of Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, said Herbal Instincts is doing more than what state rules require for dealing with odor.
The grower reportedly has placed fans on the greenhouses to try to vent the air away from neighbors.
Hoelscher said the advisory notice is like a fix-it ticket or a warning to address the problem.
"If we get more complaints about the odor and the odor is not dissipating as per their operating plan, we will have no choice but to write up a violation and bring it to the board," Hoelscher said.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Odor from marijuana grow bothers neighbors | Local News | newsminer.com
Author: Amanda Bohman
Contact: Contact Us | Site | newsminer.com
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Website: newsminer.com | The voice of Interior Alaska
