Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jun 2012
Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsreview.com/chico/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/559
Author: Robert Speer

BOARD'S MEASURE A HANGOVER

Supervisors Deal With the Pain of Failure

Butte County supervisors were nursing a marijuana hangover Tuesday 
(June 12) at their first meeting since June 5, when county voters 
heaved their medical-marijuana-cultivation ordinance, in the form of 
Measure A, right off the cliff.

The supervisors were feeling the pain of a failure that came after 
they and county staff had spent a long, difficult year, and put up 
with some major abuse, to come up with an ordinance that would make 
considerate neighbors out of growers.

The county's intentions were good, but it botched the process. At the 
board's first public hearing on the ordinance, on Feb. 22, 2011, 
District Attorney Mike Ramsey and Sheriff Jerry Smith kicked things 
off by making a presentation on the proliferation of pot gardens in 
the foothills, complete with photos.

This quickly framed the situation as growers-versus-authorities. To 
the growers who'd packed the supervisors' chambers, it seemed like a 
declaration of war, and a number of them were openly rude and hostile 
toward the supervisors.

It didn't help that the draft ordinance called for steep fees, 
setbacks that would be unmanageable in some cases, strict limits on 
the number of plants (only two on an acre or less), and that doctor's 
recommendations be registered with the county. The growers also 
objected to being frozen out of the ordinance-drafting process.

County staff came back a few weeks later with a revised ordinance, 
but it was no more popular than the first one. Although it reduced 
the fees, it allowed no plants to be grown on parcels smaller than a 
half-acre. That pleased the anti-pot folks, but it angered the people 
growing for personal use.

At the last of three huge public hearings, this one held at the 
Gridley fairgrounds, Supervisor Maureen Kirk suggested a compromise: 
to permit growing on small lots inside a greenhouse, as is allowed in 
Biggs. Several speakers endorsed this option, but the rest of the 
supervisors didn't support it.

Tuesday's discussion had the supervisors asking "What now?" By law, 
the board can't reapprove the ordinance, or even one similar to it, 
for a year. The options, CAO Paul Hahn said, were to do nothing or 
begin working on a substantially different ordinance.

The supervisors are plainly sick of the issue. Bill Connelly, who 
represents the Oroville area, said he was frustrated on behalf of 
constituents who live near pot growers and feel "intimidated and 
scared." He said he was going to start referring them to his board 
colleagues so they could see what it was like.

Hey, I've got my share of such folks in Cohasset and Forest Ranch, 
Kirk replied in so many words.

Board Chairman Steve Lambert pointed his finger right back at the 
board: "If we'd compromised last time, like on the half-acre thing, 
we'd have an ordinance right now."

For her part, Kirk had long believed the county ordinance wouldn't 
have stood up in court anyway. She said she was willing to work with 
county staff and interested parties on crafting a new measure.

Hahn said he'd come back in July with a plan for doing just that, and 
the supervisors happily moved on to a more welcome topic: solid-waste 
collection.

Robert Speer is editor of the CN&R.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom