Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Following one final round of discussion over wording and logistics, the Willits City Council approved the medical cannabis ordinance at its regular meeting Wednesday by a 4-1 vote, opening the door to various aspects of the industry within allowed zoning in the city.
The ordinance is set to take effect in 30 days and addressed entitled medical cannabis activities relating to the cultivation, processing, distribution and dispensing of medical cannabis.
City Planner Dusty Duley said the next step for staff will be to finish developing applications and inspection fees for council consideration as well as meeting with colleagues to review the applications.
At the previous meeting on Sept. 13, Councilman Ron Orenstein suggested adding to the ordinance that cannabis activities not only be hidden from view from any public right-of-way, but also from private property and the bulk of the discussion once again centered on fine tuning the specific wording of the ordinance in regard to this and other proposed amendments.
Councilwoman Madge Strong questioned the wording in the ordinance, specifically Section 17.85.050 which addresses general conditions and regulations applicable to each authorized medical cannabis activity and their permits.
Strong said a paragraph in that section of the law stating there would be "no visible evidence from any public right of way or private vantage point of medical cannabis activity" was vague and she did not think it belonged in a zoning ordinance.
Orenstein said he had requested the wording be added to address many property owners' objections.
He said for example, Howard Hospital reportedly sent a letter to all five council members objecting to the establishment of the marijuana industry within their vision.
"I am not interested in just protecting the public that wanders down our streets, I want to protect the people who live and work in this town," he said, prompting Duley to answer that it was up to the council's discretion whether or not to add some protection for private property or private vantage points.
As written in the proposed final draft under consideration by the Council, under general conditions and regulations, the draft stated, "All delivery areas and loading/unloading areas shall be within a secured area that is visible from the public right-of-way." It went on to state that from any public right-of-way or private vantage point, "there shall be no visible evidence of any medical cannabis activity."
City Attorney Jim Lance said he also thought the wording of that section of the ordinance was vague.
"I don't think we should have regulations that are hard to interpret and that are hard to enforce and become a burden for our code enforcement officer," he said.
Duley said the intent was to hide the true intentions of what was happening inside of facilities.
Code Enforcement officer John Sherman weighed in on Councilman Orenstein's objections and concerns. He said although he commended the Council for trying to address public safety concerns, the only way to learn from trying to regulate the industry was for the city to pass the law and treat it as a working adjustable document.
"I don't believe you can build the perfect beast the first time out," he said. "I don't think there's any chance that we can guarantee that no human being is going to make a mistake and nothing is going to go wrong. All we can do is do the best we can to guide this to be as safe as we can and learn as we go along. The minute we start issuing permits and making inspections and I start receiving phone calls, that's our teaching tool, that's what gives us the information we need to adjust this ordinance to work correctly for this community."
The council opened the discussion to the public and many reiterated arguments previously made in the past in favor or against the proposed ordinance, with former Mayor Bruce Burton being one of the most vocal.
Burton once again chastised the council for alleged fiscal mismanagement.
"I think what emanates as the cause for you to take on this issue is that you are in a budget crisis," he said. "You've overspent your budget last year, you've overspent your budget this year. You seem to be unable to have a backbone to solve it through difficult decisions by cutting where cuts have to be made."
Burton urged the council to wait a few years and see where the industry was headed before picking the issue back up.
Resident Kevin Shi, known around town to be in favor of approving the ordinance because he has lined up investors to operate a facility in town, said maybe the recent marijuana facility explosion in the outskirts of town could have been avoided if the city had an ordinance already in place.
"We haven't had regulations, this industry is still here, if we don't regulate it, accidents will happen," Chi said. "This is exactly why we are here. Please pass an ordinance so we can pick the good actors and we can make sure they run their business as they should do and then we can go after bad guys."
Orenstein had alluded to the explosion as a reason for public safety concerns and asked Little Lake Fire Chief Chris Wilkes if there was a way to avoid similar incidents from occurring if the ordinance was approved by council.
Duley said the city plans to subject applicants to a number of inspections both prior to operation and after the commencement of operations to make sure things are done safely and up to code.
Wilkes concurred there were safeguards in place and added the permit for the facility where the explosion took place was for a mixed light outdoor cultivation, saying it had nothing to do with extraction or manufacturing of any sort.
Wilkes said because of its remote location, there was no way the County would have known what was going on inside the building until someone reported it. He added that the city currently allows other potentially dangerous uses from non-cannabis related industries, but these are bound by regulatory agencies, they must follow the fire code, city and code enforcement and OSHA regulations.
"In my time as a fire fighter, I have been to zero incidents at those facilities," he said. "The labs that I have been to in the past have all been on the back road, there's nobody regulating what's going on in that facility."
Councilwoman Saprina Rodriguez said she was against marijuana cultivation within 200 feet of her business and her home. She added crime had increased as a result of cannabis activity and said opening up land uses would be a strain on the community's water supply. She cast the only "no' vote and said she did so in honor of all the people who have told her they do not want the cannabis industry in the community.
Mayor Gerry Gonzalez said he made no secret of how his vote would go.
"I campaigned that I would move forward with this," he said adding he overwhelmingly kept hearing people didn't want cannabis in residential areas. "I think we could stick our heads in the sand like some folks have done in the past but its happening on the state level. "Money is an issue for the council as a whole, but having a diverse economy is important, I think we need to continue looking at that."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: City approves cannabis ordinance, law to go into effect in 30 days
Author: Ariel Carmona Jr
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Reuters
Website: Willits News: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & Willits News
The ordinance is set to take effect in 30 days and addressed entitled medical cannabis activities relating to the cultivation, processing, distribution and dispensing of medical cannabis.
City Planner Dusty Duley said the next step for staff will be to finish developing applications and inspection fees for council consideration as well as meeting with colleagues to review the applications.
At the previous meeting on Sept. 13, Councilman Ron Orenstein suggested adding to the ordinance that cannabis activities not only be hidden from view from any public right-of-way, but also from private property and the bulk of the discussion once again centered on fine tuning the specific wording of the ordinance in regard to this and other proposed amendments.
Councilwoman Madge Strong questioned the wording in the ordinance, specifically Section 17.85.050 which addresses general conditions and regulations applicable to each authorized medical cannabis activity and their permits.
Strong said a paragraph in that section of the law stating there would be "no visible evidence from any public right of way or private vantage point of medical cannabis activity" was vague and she did not think it belonged in a zoning ordinance.
Orenstein said he had requested the wording be added to address many property owners' objections.
He said for example, Howard Hospital reportedly sent a letter to all five council members objecting to the establishment of the marijuana industry within their vision.
"I am not interested in just protecting the public that wanders down our streets, I want to protect the people who live and work in this town," he said, prompting Duley to answer that it was up to the council's discretion whether or not to add some protection for private property or private vantage points.
As written in the proposed final draft under consideration by the Council, under general conditions and regulations, the draft stated, "All delivery areas and loading/unloading areas shall be within a secured area that is visible from the public right-of-way." It went on to state that from any public right-of-way or private vantage point, "there shall be no visible evidence of any medical cannabis activity."
City Attorney Jim Lance said he also thought the wording of that section of the ordinance was vague.
"I don't think we should have regulations that are hard to interpret and that are hard to enforce and become a burden for our code enforcement officer," he said.
Duley said the intent was to hide the true intentions of what was happening inside of facilities.
Code Enforcement officer John Sherman weighed in on Councilman Orenstein's objections and concerns. He said although he commended the Council for trying to address public safety concerns, the only way to learn from trying to regulate the industry was for the city to pass the law and treat it as a working adjustable document.
"I don't believe you can build the perfect beast the first time out," he said. "I don't think there's any chance that we can guarantee that no human being is going to make a mistake and nothing is going to go wrong. All we can do is do the best we can to guide this to be as safe as we can and learn as we go along. The minute we start issuing permits and making inspections and I start receiving phone calls, that's our teaching tool, that's what gives us the information we need to adjust this ordinance to work correctly for this community."
The council opened the discussion to the public and many reiterated arguments previously made in the past in favor or against the proposed ordinance, with former Mayor Bruce Burton being one of the most vocal.
Burton once again chastised the council for alleged fiscal mismanagement.
"I think what emanates as the cause for you to take on this issue is that you are in a budget crisis," he said. "You've overspent your budget last year, you've overspent your budget this year. You seem to be unable to have a backbone to solve it through difficult decisions by cutting where cuts have to be made."
Burton urged the council to wait a few years and see where the industry was headed before picking the issue back up.
Resident Kevin Shi, known around town to be in favor of approving the ordinance because he has lined up investors to operate a facility in town, said maybe the recent marijuana facility explosion in the outskirts of town could have been avoided if the city had an ordinance already in place.
"We haven't had regulations, this industry is still here, if we don't regulate it, accidents will happen," Chi said. "This is exactly why we are here. Please pass an ordinance so we can pick the good actors and we can make sure they run their business as they should do and then we can go after bad guys."
Orenstein had alluded to the explosion as a reason for public safety concerns and asked Little Lake Fire Chief Chris Wilkes if there was a way to avoid similar incidents from occurring if the ordinance was approved by council.
Duley said the city plans to subject applicants to a number of inspections both prior to operation and after the commencement of operations to make sure things are done safely and up to code.
Wilkes concurred there were safeguards in place and added the permit for the facility where the explosion took place was for a mixed light outdoor cultivation, saying it had nothing to do with extraction or manufacturing of any sort.
Wilkes said because of its remote location, there was no way the County would have known what was going on inside the building until someone reported it. He added that the city currently allows other potentially dangerous uses from non-cannabis related industries, but these are bound by regulatory agencies, they must follow the fire code, city and code enforcement and OSHA regulations.
"In my time as a fire fighter, I have been to zero incidents at those facilities," he said. "The labs that I have been to in the past have all been on the back road, there's nobody regulating what's going on in that facility."
Councilwoman Saprina Rodriguez said she was against marijuana cultivation within 200 feet of her business and her home. She added crime had increased as a result of cannabis activity and said opening up land uses would be a strain on the community's water supply. She cast the only "no' vote and said she did so in honor of all the people who have told her they do not want the cannabis industry in the community.
Mayor Gerry Gonzalez said he made no secret of how his vote would go.
"I campaigned that I would move forward with this," he said adding he overwhelmingly kept hearing people didn't want cannabis in residential areas. "I think we could stick our heads in the sand like some folks have done in the past but its happening on the state level. "Money is an issue for the council as a whole, but having a diverse economy is important, I think we need to continue looking at that."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: City approves cannabis ordinance, law to go into effect in 30 days
Author: Ariel Carmona Jr
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Reuters
Website: Willits News: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & Willits News
