Elements of Humboldt County government have decided to cold-shoulder the public by enacting our first medical marijuana regulations. An ill-conceived draft ordinance will be discussed again at 6pm this Thursday, February 3rd at the Planning Commission meeting in the Supervisors’ chambers at the Courthouse in Eureka.
Citizens should come tell the Commissioners that this draft ordinance should be withdrawn, not fiddled with and sent on to the the Board of Supervisors. Its fatal flaws include:
* Banning edibles without discussion, while they become a multi-million dollar industry up and down the coast of California, and already have constructive draft regulations in some California cities;
* Banning cottage industries without defining them, though our tens of thousands of cottage industries are the economic backbone of Humboldt County;
* Requiring that anyone falling afoul of regulators bring their property up to all applicable codes, which may be impossible because it also…
* Requires that property title investigations determine if the property may have been conveyed in decades past in ways our Planning Department–and no one else in or out of government–disapproves of. Many thousands of otherwise perfectly legal parcels are ‘shaded’ in this way, and once shaded, often cannot be corrected. Shaded parcels can’t get permits, hence can’t be brought up to code. This regulatory roach motel for the first time is officially codified rather than informally inflicted.
Further, it applies urban zoning scales to rural areas and small towns, creating many absurdities such as effectively banning medical marijuana dispensaries from the entire town of Garberville, which is the market town for a large rural area and serves more than ten thousand residents plus many tourists off 101. Most other rural production centers similarly could not sustain or develop their local economies if this ordinance were in effect. It has no coherent economic plan in it, but explicitly damages and even bans sectors of our industry, instead of seeking to develop it.
You can download and read the document on the Humboldt County website here (.pdf)
Hi, Wondering about an update?
Me too!
Wonder if you are going to fight for getting the DA’s old 100 sqf and no watt limits?
At the last Planning Commission meeting consideration of this ordinance was postponed until May 12, giving us a three-month window to work in. The Commission is taking its work very seriously, and really listening to public input.
And the Hummingbird dispensary was approved for operation, which eliminated pressure from Hummingbird’s lawsuit (no doubt dropped already) for some kind of regulations to get on the books. We’re doing very well. The next step forward is for the Board of Supervisors to institute the formal public participation process that they instructed Mark Lovelace to design back in December. More and more of us are awaiting that, in and out of government.
Bob, what the limits should be is the kind of question public hearings should discuss. What do you think is appropriate? The draft ordinance attempts to defend neighborhoods against housing stock degradation and lousy neighbors. What do you think would work against bad apples?
Charley,
I think “Bad Apples” wont really follow the rules of any sort.
As far as limits I like the current 100sqft …. maybe the wattage could be reduced from unlimited to say 3-4K.
Also how about a limit of 2 recs per parcel period. Just my two cents.
Bob
The draft ordinance not only sucks, it violates Prop 215, and is even more retarded than Gallegos’ retarded (and also illegal) guidelines. 50 square feet on a 40 acre parcel is ridiculous. Using square footage is stupid and it should apply only to indoor growers. 10 or 12 plants per year grown in sunlight in the earth would be a more reasonable limitation, but it would also violate Prop. 215 which, having been enacted as an initiative, cannot be amended other than by another initiative. The County can call this a land use regulation till the proverbial cows come home, but it is a direct infringement on the rights guaranteed by Prop. 215, bless its pointy little head.
The County seems to be run by hayseeds who turn for advice to the imbecile who calls herself County Counsel. They should get a County Counsel who went to a real law school that was not located in Vermont.
Charley… longtime no hear from…. did HuMMap come up with any ideas? or are you folks rubber stamping HGA’s proposal?
We’ll get our draft ordinance up here shortly. It’s been sent to Planning Commissioners, to be discussed at the next medical cannabis ordinance discussion this Thursday at 5:30 in the Supes’ Chambers at the Courthouse. It sets considerably lower limits and suggests that different activities be regulated differently.
HGA has submitted one too, but we don’t have their final draft. We’ll publish it when we get it. They should make for a stimulating meeting.