Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Mendocino County's regulations for setbacks, tree felling and inspections in growing medical cannabis were tweaked on Tuesday, Aug. 22, which the Board of Supervisors will later cement.
The board acted in front of a lively audience holding cards that read "Support" taped to sticks, which each person would wave to show support for a comment or issue. The act of solidarity illustrated better than ever before local growers' eagerness to aid one another in public arenas, especially those falling under the cottage (small-scale) distinction.
The signs also made for what could be called a Support-O-Meter, for which issues seemed most important to those in the room. The front-runner was the issue of transferability, which was not up for debate in this round of changes to the rules, though it came up multiple times in public comment.
"I think that's going to be a source of suits against the county," said Swami Chaitanya, president of the Mendocino Cannabis Industry Association.
Chaitanya said attaching the permit to the person instead of the land only decreases the land value, and not allowing permit-holders to transfer them to other people would "wipe growers out."
The county instituted the non-transfer rule to prevent people from becoming permitted only to turn around and sell it to someone else who wishes to evade the permitting process, as supervisors have previously stated.
On Aug. 22, the supervisors decided to broaden the county's definition of "youth-oriented centers" for setbacks – currently 1,000 feet from "sensitive receptors" – to include day care centers; they wanted to limit the total cultivation area for a patient or primary caregiver to 200 square feet, at 100 square feet per patient; they gave direction to deny permits for removing trees after May 4, the day the cannabis program went into effect; and they agreed to allow growers to take one year off every five years without losing their permits.
County counsel said it would look into allowing setback reductions in administrative permits, to be handled by the Department of Planning and Building.
One comment about tree removal argued that those in the county's previous 9.31 program for cannabis growing were not told about tree removal, so people should not be penalized at all for taking down trees after May 4 if they are willing to work with the county on everything else, eliciting a wave of the support cards.
A more heated topic was the county's requirement of permit holders to renew every year, relating to the issue of taking time off. A few spoke in favor of allowing for time off, including Supervisor Georgeanne Croskey, but Supervisor Carre Brown spoke against it as a member of a family of ranchers.
"That's insulting to me," Brown said. "If you're really in ag, there is no time out. And that's the bottom line."
However, the one-in-five compromise seemed fair to everyone in the room.
All changes were handed to county counsel, which will come back with the second reading in the next meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 29.
The board tabled the issues of transferability, overlay and the fee structure to the next round of changes. The board asked for a fee hearing, to discuss reductions for gardens 25 plants or less, on Sept. 12.
Responding to feelings that local growers do not feel supported by the county, echoed in Tuesday's meeting, County Executive Officer Carmel Angelo in an interview on Monday said it is difficult to juggle the interests of the county as a whole.
"It's a challenge to support the cannabis industry and at the same time support the other 90,000 people who don't agree with it," said Angelo.
The executive office has stated the Department of Planning and Building has done a good job of adapting in the midst of unknown territory, and that anyone with cannabis-specific questions should call the county's Cannabis Hotline at 844-421-9333 (WEED).
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Cannabis cultivators hear first-round changes to Mendocino County rules
Author: Ashley Tressel
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: THC Design
Website: Ft Bragg Advocate News: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & Ft Bragg News
The board acted in front of a lively audience holding cards that read "Support" taped to sticks, which each person would wave to show support for a comment or issue. The act of solidarity illustrated better than ever before local growers' eagerness to aid one another in public arenas, especially those falling under the cottage (small-scale) distinction.
The signs also made for what could be called a Support-O-Meter, for which issues seemed most important to those in the room. The front-runner was the issue of transferability, which was not up for debate in this round of changes to the rules, though it came up multiple times in public comment.
"I think that's going to be a source of suits against the county," said Swami Chaitanya, president of the Mendocino Cannabis Industry Association.
Chaitanya said attaching the permit to the person instead of the land only decreases the land value, and not allowing permit-holders to transfer them to other people would "wipe growers out."
The county instituted the non-transfer rule to prevent people from becoming permitted only to turn around and sell it to someone else who wishes to evade the permitting process, as supervisors have previously stated.
On Aug. 22, the supervisors decided to broaden the county's definition of "youth-oriented centers" for setbacks – currently 1,000 feet from "sensitive receptors" – to include day care centers; they wanted to limit the total cultivation area for a patient or primary caregiver to 200 square feet, at 100 square feet per patient; they gave direction to deny permits for removing trees after May 4, the day the cannabis program went into effect; and they agreed to allow growers to take one year off every five years without losing their permits.
County counsel said it would look into allowing setback reductions in administrative permits, to be handled by the Department of Planning and Building.
One comment about tree removal argued that those in the county's previous 9.31 program for cannabis growing were not told about tree removal, so people should not be penalized at all for taking down trees after May 4 if they are willing to work with the county on everything else, eliciting a wave of the support cards.
A more heated topic was the county's requirement of permit holders to renew every year, relating to the issue of taking time off. A few spoke in favor of allowing for time off, including Supervisor Georgeanne Croskey, but Supervisor Carre Brown spoke against it as a member of a family of ranchers.
"That's insulting to me," Brown said. "If you're really in ag, there is no time out. And that's the bottom line."
However, the one-in-five compromise seemed fair to everyone in the room.
All changes were handed to county counsel, which will come back with the second reading in the next meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 29.
The board tabled the issues of transferability, overlay and the fee structure to the next round of changes. The board asked for a fee hearing, to discuss reductions for gardens 25 plants or less, on Sept. 12.
Responding to feelings that local growers do not feel supported by the county, echoed in Tuesday's meeting, County Executive Officer Carmel Angelo in an interview on Monday said it is difficult to juggle the interests of the county as a whole.
"It's a challenge to support the cannabis industry and at the same time support the other 90,000 people who don't agree with it," said Angelo.
The executive office has stated the Department of Planning and Building has done a good job of adapting in the midst of unknown territory, and that anyone with cannabis-specific questions should call the county's Cannabis Hotline at 844-421-9333 (WEED).
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Cannabis cultivators hear first-round changes to Mendocino County rules
Author: Ashley Tressel
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: THC Design
Website: Ft Bragg Advocate News: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & Ft Bragg News
