Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jan 2012
Source: Lake County Record-Bee (Lakeport, CA)
Copyright: 2012 Record-Bee
Contact:  http://www.record-bee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3384
Author: Jeremy Walsh

MARIJUANA CULTIVATION ORDINANCE RESCINDED

LAKE COUNTY -- The Board of Supervisors (BOS) responded to a 
successful referendum petition Tuesday by voting unanimously to 
rescind the law it passed in October establishing medical marijuana 
cultivation regulations.

"We were not expecting this," Don Merrill, a proponent of the 
referendum effort, said after the hearing. "We're pleasantly surprised."

The supervisors debated for nearly 45 minutes about what to do with 
their ordinance, which many of them referred to as a "compromise."

However, Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley found at least 2,132 
county voters disapproved of the BOS-supported law by signing the 
referendum petition against it.

The total cleared the threshold necessary to force the supervisors to 
decide whether to repeal their ordinance or put it to the voters, 
either on the June ballot or in a special election before the 
presidential primary.

District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown and others quickly shot down the idea 
of holding a costly special vote, so the conversation shifted to the 
June 5 election, which has the potential to include a different 
measure about pot growth in Lake County.

The same groups behind the cultivation referendum submitted 3,285 
signatures to Fridley's office on Dec. 20 as part of an attempt to 
get an initiative measure before the voters in June.

The Lake County Citizens for Responsible Regulations and the Lake 
County Green Farmers Association support less stringent rules than 
those passed by the BOS.

Fridley's office has until Jan. 25 to verify if the groups gathered 
the minimum number of names needed to possibly get "The Lake County 
Medical Marijuana Cultivation Act of 2012" on the June ballot.

If those efforts prove to be successful, the BOS will have to decide 
whether to put the initiative measure to the voters or simply adopt 
the law without any changes.

That possible situation played a part in Tuesday's deliberations.

Brown said he thought having two marijuana cultivation acts on the 
same ballot could confuse some voters.

"In my opinion, there should be a ballot measure, up or down," he said.

Later in the discussion, some supervisors, including Brown, indicated 
support for a scenario in which the BOS would direct county staff to 
draft a new law, different from the one passed in October, to put to 
the voters alongside the initiative measure.

The BOS has the ability to place any potential ordinance on an 
election ballot, according to County Counsel Anita Grant.

Fridley said such a draft would need to be submitted by early March 
to qualify for the June 5 vote.

Still, the supervisors were required to decide the fate of the 
existing ordinance on Tuesday, rather than wait to see what develops 
with the initiative effort.

The BOS voted unanimously to rescind the law, a move that puts county 
code enforcers in the same position they've been in for years while 
trying to address medical marijuana grows.

The ordinance would have set a range of rules for qualified 
individuals to follow while growing their recommended amounts of marijuana.

Without the ordinance in place, the Lake County Code continues to 
have no specific regulations regarding medical marijuana cultivation, 
though growers have to continue adhering to other relevant local 
laws, such as grading and water-usage requirements.

For the record, the Dec. 23 Record-Bee article "Signatures submitted 
for marijuana initiative" was misleading.

To clarify, there will not be two initiative measures regarding local 
marijuana cultivation laws on the June ballot because only one set of 
proponents turned in signatures before the Dec. 22 deadline.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart