Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
The city of Sacramento has logged more than 900 phone calls and received more than 60 applications from property owners looking to get into the marijuana industry.
A review of the applications showed one-third of the potential sites would create a green belt stretching along the northern side of Highway 160, and another half of the applications are in the industrial area centered around Florin-Perkins Road.
Kenneth Hooker wants to preserve the Hagginwood neighborhood he grew up in.
"Things have changed so much since I grew up here," Hooker said. "This is the only home I know and I'm here taking care of my father again."
He could recall when each house on Kathleen Street was built.
"There wasn't a building out here. You could go out here and hunt for pheasants, doves, deer, rabbits. Just go out there with a .22," Hooker said.
Now he's afraid the commercial buildings surrounding his neighborhood are about to become marijuana grows, and he's worried about what that might bring.
"Wow, man. What, spitting distance. It's pretty close. I mean, can you imagine the people coming up and down this street?" Hooker said.
In fact, several applications have been submitted for properties around his home.
Sacramento city staff is now reviewing applications for more than 60 properties.
KCRA Investigates found 21 of those, more than a third of the city total, are in the same area Hooker calls home.
"We don't need no marijuana over here," Hooker said. "We don't need no grow stuff. I mean, we got enough problems."
Hooker said blight, crime and homelessness are nearby.
City councilman Allen Warren represents the area.
"I think it's completely unfair to tell you the truth, and you're asking communities that are the most vulnerable to bear the majority of the burden," Warren said.
Warren voted against the ordinance allowing the permits because he said it has too few restrictions. It also doesn't guarantee more tax money for the communities where the operations will go.
"We know where they're going. They're going to go to where properties are the cheapest, and a lot of them will be in industrial areas, you know, and then they will also be highly concentrated minority communities, so we know that," Warren said.
The owners of some of those industrial sites are looking to move out other longtime businesses to move marijuana in.
Warehouses, empty buildings and open lots are all on the list of potential sites.
"Getting that commercial license would be obviously the next step to keep growing," said one grower who didn't want to be identified.
The grower said he is looking to expand his cultivation operation that he runs legally for medicinal purposes.
"I don't think anybody wants to get in trouble for doing something that they love," said the grower.
He asked KCRA 3 not to reveal his name or say where he is running his business. Like other growers, he feels there's still uncertainty surrounding whether the government will change its tune about what's legal and what isn't.
"It seems like every year, the state or counties are switching up what we can and can't do, and you know it does make it really confusing for us to stay within our rights," he said.
In fact, the process is a bit of a gamble.
In Sacramento, the grow sites have to be in areas zoned industrial or manufacturing. There can only be one sign on the building, and the plants can't be visible from the street. They also have to be at least 600 feet from schools. Even then the public will have a chance to weigh in on whether grows should be allowed.
"I think it's important to understand that the framework that the city has set up, that the council has set forth as their direction, is really to protect neighborhoods, to protect public health, and increase public safety," said Joe Devlin, the city's chief of cannabis policy and enforcement.
Prospective businesses will also have to lay out an operations plan detailing everything from security to hours of operation to how it will control odor.
Devlin said each individual site will have its own requirements depending on the surroundings and the circumstances.
"(The business plan) is where we are going to lay out in detail and evaluate their proposals for how they are going to be good neighbors. How they are going to keep a safe facility," Devlin said.
Dennise Henderson is an attorney representing growers trying to navigate all the developing laws and regulations.
"You need a lawyer, you need a lawyer, really do," she said.
Henderson said cities and counties, including Sacramento, have a financial stake in this too.
"What they're doing, unfortunately, is they're feeding at the trough like a lot of people do. They get greedy and they think I've got to get all this money now," Henderson said.
Henderson said all over Northern California the rules and big fees are cutting out some startups in favor of big business.
"It's the big money that they're talking about, you know. How does a small business come up with $28,000 to pay for just the first fee for cultivation in Sacramento," Henderson said.
But for folks like Hooker, it's not about money at all. It's about quality of life.
While Hooker has lived with the industrial park near his home, he doesn't want it to become a cannabis complex.
"Most definitely and it shouldn't be this way. I mean c'mon. You know? There is a place for everything, and this is not the place here," Hooker said.
The process is long, at least in the city of Sacramento.
The city is estimating it can take between six to nine months just to get the conditional use permit. The business operation permit could take just as long, so legal operations won't be popping up overnight.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Inside Sacramento's green rush to apply for pot permits
Author: Kevin Oliver
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Getty
Website: Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto CA News and Weather - KCRA Channel 3
A review of the applications showed one-third of the potential sites would create a green belt stretching along the northern side of Highway 160, and another half of the applications are in the industrial area centered around Florin-Perkins Road.
Kenneth Hooker wants to preserve the Hagginwood neighborhood he grew up in.
"Things have changed so much since I grew up here," Hooker said. "This is the only home I know and I'm here taking care of my father again."
He could recall when each house on Kathleen Street was built.
"There wasn't a building out here. You could go out here and hunt for pheasants, doves, deer, rabbits. Just go out there with a .22," Hooker said.
Now he's afraid the commercial buildings surrounding his neighborhood are about to become marijuana grows, and he's worried about what that might bring.
"Wow, man. What, spitting distance. It's pretty close. I mean, can you imagine the people coming up and down this street?" Hooker said.
In fact, several applications have been submitted for properties around his home.
Sacramento city staff is now reviewing applications for more than 60 properties.
KCRA Investigates found 21 of those, more than a third of the city total, are in the same area Hooker calls home.
"We don't need no marijuana over here," Hooker said. "We don't need no grow stuff. I mean, we got enough problems."
Hooker said blight, crime and homelessness are nearby.
City councilman Allen Warren represents the area.
"I think it's completely unfair to tell you the truth, and you're asking communities that are the most vulnerable to bear the majority of the burden," Warren said.
Warren voted against the ordinance allowing the permits because he said it has too few restrictions. It also doesn't guarantee more tax money for the communities where the operations will go.
"We know where they're going. They're going to go to where properties are the cheapest, and a lot of them will be in industrial areas, you know, and then they will also be highly concentrated minority communities, so we know that," Warren said.
The owners of some of those industrial sites are looking to move out other longtime businesses to move marijuana in.
Warehouses, empty buildings and open lots are all on the list of potential sites.
"Getting that commercial license would be obviously the next step to keep growing," said one grower who didn't want to be identified.
The grower said he is looking to expand his cultivation operation that he runs legally for medicinal purposes.
"I don't think anybody wants to get in trouble for doing something that they love," said the grower.
He asked KCRA 3 not to reveal his name or say where he is running his business. Like other growers, he feels there's still uncertainty surrounding whether the government will change its tune about what's legal and what isn't.
"It seems like every year, the state or counties are switching up what we can and can't do, and you know it does make it really confusing for us to stay within our rights," he said.
In fact, the process is a bit of a gamble.
In Sacramento, the grow sites have to be in areas zoned industrial or manufacturing. There can only be one sign on the building, and the plants can't be visible from the street. They also have to be at least 600 feet from schools. Even then the public will have a chance to weigh in on whether grows should be allowed.
"I think it's important to understand that the framework that the city has set up, that the council has set forth as their direction, is really to protect neighborhoods, to protect public health, and increase public safety," said Joe Devlin, the city's chief of cannabis policy and enforcement.
Prospective businesses will also have to lay out an operations plan detailing everything from security to hours of operation to how it will control odor.
Devlin said each individual site will have its own requirements depending on the surroundings and the circumstances.
"(The business plan) is where we are going to lay out in detail and evaluate their proposals for how they are going to be good neighbors. How they are going to keep a safe facility," Devlin said.
Dennise Henderson is an attorney representing growers trying to navigate all the developing laws and regulations.
"You need a lawyer, you need a lawyer, really do," she said.
Henderson said cities and counties, including Sacramento, have a financial stake in this too.
"What they're doing, unfortunately, is they're feeding at the trough like a lot of people do. They get greedy and they think I've got to get all this money now," Henderson said.
Henderson said all over Northern California the rules and big fees are cutting out some startups in favor of big business.
"It's the big money that they're talking about, you know. How does a small business come up with $28,000 to pay for just the first fee for cultivation in Sacramento," Henderson said.
But for folks like Hooker, it's not about money at all. It's about quality of life.
While Hooker has lived with the industrial park near his home, he doesn't want it to become a cannabis complex.
"Most definitely and it shouldn't be this way. I mean c'mon. You know? There is a place for everything, and this is not the place here," Hooker said.
The process is long, at least in the city of Sacramento.
The city is estimating it can take between six to nine months just to get the conditional use permit. The business operation permit could take just as long, so legal operations won't be popping up overnight.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Inside Sacramento's green rush to apply for pot permits
Author: Kevin Oliver
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Getty
Website: Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto CA News and Weather - KCRA Channel 3