Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Medical marijuana gardens will be back before the Castle Rock City Council Wednesday as city leaders learn what the public thinks about emergency zoning regulations enacted in last month.
Wednesday, the council will hear a presentation on its current medical marijuana zoning regulations and then take public comment. The public hearing is required because the council did not have time to take public testimony before enacting the emergency regulations.
As of Friday morning, the city had not received any permit applications for a collective garden.
The emergency zoning rules were put in place in advance of a new state law legalizing collective medical marijuana gardens as of July 22. Without the regulations, city leaders feared the gardens could pop up anywhere, including near schools and churches. The emergency regulations are good for six months.
Other jurisdictions - including Longview and Clark and Lewis counties - - passed emergency moratoriums on the collective gardens. Castle Rock's legal advisors, though, warned such temporary bans could be illegal and could lead to an expensive court battle. The city already has been notified that two people want to sue it over other medical marijuana regulations.
Without an all-out ban, the city's emergency rules restrict collective gardens to two "highway business district" areas clustered around the two Interstate 5 exits closest to town. Most of the land in both areas is east of the highway and away from the city's downtown and residential core.
The city also included a number of restrictions, including establishing a limit of one collective garden per land parcel, requiring fences with lockable gates on all outdoor grows and requiring an application and inspection by a building official before any garden can be started. Patients with medical marijuana cards also can only belong to one garden collective at a time, and the gardens must keep membership lists for three years. Outdoor gardens also must not be able to be seen from any public place.
Medical marijuana patients already can grow their own plants under a previous state law. The new law allows patients to join forces and grow one large garden. The collective gardens are limited to 10 patients and no more than 45 plants. Federal officials still consider such gardens illegal, but so far have not cracked down on the state-sanctioned gardens.
Following the testimony, the City Council will direct staff on what members want to do next, said City Attorney Frank Randolph.
The council could ask that formal "findings of fact" be drawn up to support keeping the emergency zoning regulations. If that happens, the final vote will be taken at a later council meeting. It's also possible the council could direct staff to take a different approach, Randolph said.
The city's Planning Commission also will be in attendance, as those members will have to draft the city's final zoning regulations.
Wednesday's meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Castle Rock Elementary School cafeteria, 700 Huntington Ave. South.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Daily News, The (Longview, WA)
Copyright: 2011 The Daily News
Contact: letters@tdn.com
Website: The Daily News - Longview, Washington
Details: MapInc
Author: Barbara LaBoe
Wednesday, the council will hear a presentation on its current medical marijuana zoning regulations and then take public comment. The public hearing is required because the council did not have time to take public testimony before enacting the emergency regulations.
As of Friday morning, the city had not received any permit applications for a collective garden.
The emergency zoning rules were put in place in advance of a new state law legalizing collective medical marijuana gardens as of July 22. Without the regulations, city leaders feared the gardens could pop up anywhere, including near schools and churches. The emergency regulations are good for six months.
Other jurisdictions - including Longview and Clark and Lewis counties - - passed emergency moratoriums on the collective gardens. Castle Rock's legal advisors, though, warned such temporary bans could be illegal and could lead to an expensive court battle. The city already has been notified that two people want to sue it over other medical marijuana regulations.
Without an all-out ban, the city's emergency rules restrict collective gardens to two "highway business district" areas clustered around the two Interstate 5 exits closest to town. Most of the land in both areas is east of the highway and away from the city's downtown and residential core.
The city also included a number of restrictions, including establishing a limit of one collective garden per land parcel, requiring fences with lockable gates on all outdoor grows and requiring an application and inspection by a building official before any garden can be started. Patients with medical marijuana cards also can only belong to one garden collective at a time, and the gardens must keep membership lists for three years. Outdoor gardens also must not be able to be seen from any public place.
Medical marijuana patients already can grow their own plants under a previous state law. The new law allows patients to join forces and grow one large garden. The collective gardens are limited to 10 patients and no more than 45 plants. Federal officials still consider such gardens illegal, but so far have not cracked down on the state-sanctioned gardens.
Following the testimony, the City Council will direct staff on what members want to do next, said City Attorney Frank Randolph.
The council could ask that formal "findings of fact" be drawn up to support keeping the emergency zoning regulations. If that happens, the final vote will be taken at a later council meeting. It's also possible the council could direct staff to take a different approach, Randolph said.
The city's Planning Commission also will be in attendance, as those members will have to draft the city's final zoning regulations.
Wednesday's meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the Castle Rock Elementary School cafeteria, 700 Huntington Ave. South.
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Daily News, The (Longview, WA)
Copyright: 2011 The Daily News
Contact: letters@tdn.com
Website: The Daily News - Longview, Washington
Details: MapInc
Author: Barbara LaBoe
