A week after Yolo County halted new outdoor growing and a week before a statewide vote on legalizing recreational use, marijuana cultivation will come under consideration of the Woodland City Council.
Acting Tuesday, the council is expected to receive information on Californias Prop. 64, which would legalize recreational use of marijuana, provide direction and refer consideration of local regulations to planning subcommittees, as well as consider adopting an urgency ordinance prohibiting outdoor growing.
Last Tuesday, Yolo County supervisors halted new outdoor marijuana grows on unincorporated property to allow the county time to recover from the rush of applicants and subsequent financial deficit.
The vote by supervisors was in reaction to the county spending more than $500,000 in general funds on the interim ordinance and related work and having more incoming applications than staff has the resources to investigate. Ag Commissioner John Young told supervisors there were 82 permitted or soon to be permitted cultivators on 94 parcels in Yolo County and up to 800 grows in total. Since the Oct. 11 cut off was announced at the last supervisors meeting, Young reported that his office has been getting as many as 10 calls a day from people wanting permits.
The Woodland council is being given several options meant to basically buy time so staff can write the necessary zoning codes to make sure the city is in compliance with Prop. 64 if it passes. Based on the timing of initiating an urgency ban on outdoor grows, however, there could be a one week period where outdoor commercial marijuana cultivation would be legal within city limits.
California cities and counties have had the authority since 1996 under Prop. 215 to regulate and ensure that medical marijuana uses are not public nuisances, as well as keeping their traditional land-use authority (including the ability to exclude facilities that distribute medical marijuana).
In 2015, however, according to the city, the state Legislature adopted three bills which amended earlier legislation that allows local governments to regulate the licensing of marijuana growing within their jurisdiction and also require a person or entity wishing to cultivate medical marijuana to obtain a state license.
The licensing requirement does not cover qualified medical marijuana patients who cultivate plants in less than 100 square feet, and provides for personal medical use. It also doesnt apply to primary caregivers who cultivate provided that the area does not exceed 500 square feet and the cultivation is exclusively for the personal medical use of no more than five patients for whom the person is the primary caregiver.
The citys existing zoning code, meanwhile, regulates the cultivation of medical marijuana in accordance with state law. It does not provide legal authority to grow marijuana but imposes zoning restrictions on marijuana cultivation when it is authorized by state law for medical or other purposes.
The current zoning code prohibits cultivation of cannabis that is not medical marijuana at any location in the city, prohibits all commercial cultivation of medical marijuana in the city, prohibits all outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana within a 600-foot radius of any child care center, park, school or any residential zone; and requires a qualified patient or primary caregiver who wants to grow medical marijuana indoors to register with the citys Community Development director prior to cultivation.
The zoning codes also permit a patient or primary caregiver who registers with the City to grow medical marijuana indoors within any residential zone if the cultivation is within a detached, fully enclosed and secure secondary structure or primary residential structure that meets specified requirements such as lighting, use of gas products, ventilation and size.
Anyone caught violating the ordinance wouldnt be arrested, however, if their actions are immune from criminal liability pursuant to state law.
Thus, the existing Zoning Code allows for limited indoor and outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana (not recreational marijuana) for non-commercial use, prohibits cultivation of medical marijuana for commercial purposes, and prohibits cultivation of cannabis that is not medical marijuana throughout the City, according to a staff report written by City Manager Paul Navazio. The Citys Zoning Code does not regulate non-medical or recreational use of marijuana because recreational use thus far has been illegal under both federal and state law. It does, however, currently prohibit all cultivation that is not medical marijuana at any location in the City.
With the strong possibility that California voters will approve recreational use of marijuana during next Tuesdays election, the city now needs to set up conditions for private cultivation.
What the council is being asked to consider is adopting an urgency ordinance that would go in effect for 45 days, unless extended, that would remain in effect until the council adopts the needed regulations to be consistent with Prop. 64
The council could adopt an ordinance banning outdoor cultivation of marijuana, prohibit all commercial marijuana uses (including dispensaries, deliveries, cultivation, and manufacturing), impose the same requirements on indoor cultivators of non-medical marijuana as are currently in place for medical marijuana, or some combination.
However, because the state is tasked with creating and implementing a regulatory and licensing system for the commercial cultivation of non-medical marijuana, any commercial operation that would begin operating prior to obtaining a state license (anticipated to begin on or around Jan. 1, 2018) would be doing so in violation of the law, Navazio notes. Therefore, the most immediate urgency would be to enact an urgency ordinance banning outdoor cultivation and also providing that indoor cultivation of non-medical marijuana is subject to the Citys existing regulation of indoor cultivation for medical marijuana.
If the council adopts an urgency ordinance, it would go into effect immediately. If the council takes a different approach the an ordinance would go into effect on Nov. 15. That would mean mean if Prop. 64 passes, there would be a short amount of time (approximately a week) where all activities permitted under Prop. 64 would be permitted, including outdoor cultivation.
Navazio is recommending the council – after listening to its options – provide direction regarding amending the citys Zoning Code and refer regulatory issues to the ad hoc sub-committees of the Planning Commission and City Council for their review.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Outdoor Marijuana Cultivation Could Be Banned Within Woodland City Limits
Author: Jim Smith
Contact: (530) 406-6230
Photo Credit: Glen Stubbe
Website: Daily Democrat
