Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
The Tehama County Board of Supervisors rejected an ordinance designed to limit the amount of medical marijuana grown in a garden and where gardens could be established by a 3-2 vote.
The ordinance, modified from its original proposal on June 23, would have treated gardens with more than 30 plants or within 1,000 feet of a school, church or bus stop as a civil nuisance, meaning the county could tear up the plants and bill the owner in violation.
Over the course of two-and-a-half hours, the board heard nearly as many people speak out in favor of the ordinance as against it, with repeated concerns that marijuana growth, however legal, will attract theft and violence.
Growers said the ordinance was being proposed during peak growing season, and could create more pot gardens by forcing large gardens to split up.
But it was the way the ordinance was developed that killed it.
Supervisor Bob Williams, instead of developing a temporary, or ad hoc, committee to examine the issue and propose an ordinance to the board, wrote his own ordinance, using a Mendocino County ordinance as a model.
"I don't care for ad hoc committees," Williams said after the ordinance's defeat. "(The ordinance) is reasonable, it's enforceable, it's legal."
Williams also voted against a motion to table the ordinance and to place the formation of an ad hoc committee on a future Board of Supervisors Agenda.
But the motion passed 3-2, Advertisement
with Supervisor Ron Warner siding with Williams on both votes.
Supervisor Gregg Avilla, who voted against the ordinance, said he would like to see a timetable set so that if the county forms an ad hoc committee, it would not postpone an ordinance indefinitely.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Red Bluff Daily News
Author: Geoff Johnson
Copyright: 2009 Red Bluff Daily News
Contact: Contact Us - Red Bluff Daily News Online
Website: Tehama County Board of Supervisors nixes limit on pot - Red Bluff Daily News Online
The ordinance, modified from its original proposal on June 23, would have treated gardens with more than 30 plants or within 1,000 feet of a school, church or bus stop as a civil nuisance, meaning the county could tear up the plants and bill the owner in violation.
Over the course of two-and-a-half hours, the board heard nearly as many people speak out in favor of the ordinance as against it, with repeated concerns that marijuana growth, however legal, will attract theft and violence.
Growers said the ordinance was being proposed during peak growing season, and could create more pot gardens by forcing large gardens to split up.
But it was the way the ordinance was developed that killed it.
Supervisor Bob Williams, instead of developing a temporary, or ad hoc, committee to examine the issue and propose an ordinance to the board, wrote his own ordinance, using a Mendocino County ordinance as a model.
"I don't care for ad hoc committees," Williams said after the ordinance's defeat. "(The ordinance) is reasonable, it's enforceable, it's legal."
Williams also voted against a motion to table the ordinance and to place the formation of an ad hoc committee on a future Board of Supervisors Agenda.
But the motion passed 3-2, Advertisement
with Supervisor Ron Warner siding with Williams on both votes.
Supervisor Gregg Avilla, who voted against the ordinance, said he would like to see a timetable set so that if the county forms an ad hoc committee, it would not postpone an ordinance indefinitely.
News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Red Bluff Daily News
Author: Geoff Johnson
Copyright: 2009 Red Bluff Daily News
Contact: Contact Us - Red Bluff Daily News Online
Website: Tehama County Board of Supervisors nixes limit on pot - Red Bluff Daily News Online
