Robert Celt
New Member
Growing medical marijuana sounded a little like agriculture and a little like the pharmaceutical industry Wednesday when the Frederick County Planning Commission decided not to make a recommendation to the County Council about allowing pot growing in farming districts.
Growing cannabis for medical use is allowed in non-farming areas of the county, if someone in Frederick County were to get one of the state's regulated grower's licenses. But right now, a cultivator could not grow the plants in the agricultural districts. A bill sponsored by Council Vice President M.C. Keegan-Ayer would allow medical marijuana to be grown in agricultural districts, under certain circumstances defined by the county and state.
The County Council sent the bill to the Planning Commission for a recommendation. The council will have a workshop on the bill at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 23.
As drafted, the local bill would require the growing lot to be at least 25 acres, though the actual growing area could occur in a smaller space; artificial light could not spill over onto neighboring property between dusk and dawn; the property would have to have one 24-hour security officer for every 25,000 square feet of growing area; and the use would have to be approved as a special exception by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
For two hours, commissioners parsed language and definitions of pharmaceutical industry, farming, processing and crops before voting to send no recommendation to the County Council.
Commissioner Carol Jaar Sepe, who is also a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals, said she found the language in the bill too vague to enable her to make a decision if a request for a marijuana farm were to come to the appeals board.
After the commission voted to send no recommendation to the council, Jaar Sepe offered a successful motion to send suggestions for changes to the bill. The suggestions include restricting medical marijuana growing to enclosed spaces, such as a greenhouse; increasing all setbacks to 200 feet; and requiring 1,000 feet of separation between the premises and a dwelling and the lot line of any school, nursery school, day care center, or similar public or private facility.
Rahsaan Peak, chief executive officer of Botanical Bio-Discovery of Maryland LLC, represented his interest in establishing a marijuana growing business in Middletown, if he is issued one of the state's licenses. He plans to use an existing 75,000-square-foot greenhouse, and said that he would buffer the visual impact and make the site compatible with the area.
"Intrinsic economic factors" will inhibit large areas of marijuana growing and massive lengths of tall fencing, said Assistant County Attorney Michael Chomel.
The state will issue only 15 licenses to growers, and each license will cost $125,000.
Growers will have to tag and closely account for every plant, Chomel said.
The prospect of 8-foot fences topped by razor wire had farmers and Frederick County Farm Bureau representatives speaking against the proposal Wednesday.
The Agricultural Business Council said the activity belongs in commercial industrial districts, according to Katie Albaugh, staff for the Business Council office.
Albaugh said the bill's proposed setbacks – 125 feet in the front and 100 in the side and rear – would be too small.
"Medical cannabis is not what Frederick County agriculture is about," she said.
"This would attract a crowd of people and attention" that would change the county's rural character, Albaugh said. "Farmland will take on the character of a prison."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: MD: Medical Marijuana Hard For Frederick Planning Commission To Swallow
Author: Patti Borda Mullins
Contact: The Frederick News-Post
Photo Credit: AP
Website: The Frederick News-Post
Growing cannabis for medical use is allowed in non-farming areas of the county, if someone in Frederick County were to get one of the state's regulated grower's licenses. But right now, a cultivator could not grow the plants in the agricultural districts. A bill sponsored by Council Vice President M.C. Keegan-Ayer would allow medical marijuana to be grown in agricultural districts, under certain circumstances defined by the county and state.
The County Council sent the bill to the Planning Commission for a recommendation. The council will have a workshop on the bill at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 23.
As drafted, the local bill would require the growing lot to be at least 25 acres, though the actual growing area could occur in a smaller space; artificial light could not spill over onto neighboring property between dusk and dawn; the property would have to have one 24-hour security officer for every 25,000 square feet of growing area; and the use would have to be approved as a special exception by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
For two hours, commissioners parsed language and definitions of pharmaceutical industry, farming, processing and crops before voting to send no recommendation to the County Council.
Commissioner Carol Jaar Sepe, who is also a member of the Board of Zoning Appeals, said she found the language in the bill too vague to enable her to make a decision if a request for a marijuana farm were to come to the appeals board.
After the commission voted to send no recommendation to the council, Jaar Sepe offered a successful motion to send suggestions for changes to the bill. The suggestions include restricting medical marijuana growing to enclosed spaces, such as a greenhouse; increasing all setbacks to 200 feet; and requiring 1,000 feet of separation between the premises and a dwelling and the lot line of any school, nursery school, day care center, or similar public or private facility.
Rahsaan Peak, chief executive officer of Botanical Bio-Discovery of Maryland LLC, represented his interest in establishing a marijuana growing business in Middletown, if he is issued one of the state's licenses. He plans to use an existing 75,000-square-foot greenhouse, and said that he would buffer the visual impact and make the site compatible with the area.
"Intrinsic economic factors" will inhibit large areas of marijuana growing and massive lengths of tall fencing, said Assistant County Attorney Michael Chomel.
The state will issue only 15 licenses to growers, and each license will cost $125,000.
Growers will have to tag and closely account for every plant, Chomel said.
The prospect of 8-foot fences topped by razor wire had farmers and Frederick County Farm Bureau representatives speaking against the proposal Wednesday.
The Agricultural Business Council said the activity belongs in commercial industrial districts, according to Katie Albaugh, staff for the Business Council office.
Albaugh said the bill's proposed setbacks – 125 feet in the front and 100 in the side and rear – would be too small.
"Medical cannabis is not what Frederick County agriculture is about," she said.
"This would attract a crowd of people and attention" that would change the county's rural character, Albaugh said. "Farmland will take on the character of a prison."
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: MD: Medical Marijuana Hard For Frederick Planning Commission To Swallow
Author: Patti Borda Mullins
Contact: The Frederick News-Post
Photo Credit: AP
Website: The Frederick News-Post
