Pubdate: Fri, 04 Mar 2016
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Chico Enterprise-Record
Contact:  http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority
Author: Ryan Olson

BUTTE COUNTY SUPERVISORS TO CONSIDER CHALLENGE TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA 
RULE CHANGES

Oroville - Two petitions challenging changes to Butte County's 
medical marijuana rules will go to the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.

The Clerk-Recorder's Office has determined the two petitions 
submitted last week are sufficient, according to Clerk-Recorder 
Candace Grubbs. The Clerk-Recorder's Office will certify the 
petitions at Tuesday's meeting.

The Inland Cannabis Farmers Association is challenging the 
supervisors' Jan. 26 decision to update the county's medical 
marijuana cultivation rules and the right-to-farm ordinance. On Feb. 
25, the group delivered two petitions of about 13,000 signatures 
each, far in excess of the 6,177 valid signatures needed for each petition.

The challenge has suspended the changes for now, but the previous 
rules remain in effect.

"It's important to know what is still in effect and what is 
suspended," county public information officer Casey Hatcher said.

The Clerk-Recorder's Office had up to 30 days to complete the 
verification process for the petitions. Grubbs said her staff 
conducted a random check of 500 signatures on each petition, 
following a specific procedure from the Secretary of State's Office 
on which petition pages and signature lines to verify.

Generally, if more than a certain percentage of the randomly selected 
signatures are valid, officials can reasonably conclude the petition 
has a sufficient number of valid signatures without checking them all.

When the board takes up the matter, supervisors will have two choices 
- - repeal the changes or submit the matter to voters. If the board 
opts for the plebiscite, it may be scheduled for the June 7 primary 
election or a special election after 88 days.

There was a narrow window to have the challenges qualified for the 
June 7 election. If the board acted at its March 22 meeting, the 
items could have been placed on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

Farmers association director Jessica MacKenzie said they were 
thrilled that the petitions would be certified and supporters would 
be at Tuesday's meeting. Her group and volunteers had gathered the 
needed signatures in 18 days.

"We are very proud of our people," MacKenzie said. "They went out and 
did great work in a very, very short period of time."

MacKenzie said her group was fine with a possible June election 
because people are mobilized. The arguments on the issue are similar 
to previous elections, but the climate has changed, particularly with 
the passage of three state laws creating a new statewide framework 
for commercial medical marijuana operations.

"Our community is activated and paying attention," MacKenzie said.

Board chairman and Oroville-area Supervisor Bill Connelly said he 
believed supervisors were inclined to put the matters up for election.

"It's pretty much the voters that are going to decide," Connelly said.

Marijuana is a difficult subject for him because most of the county's 
growers and those affected from cultivation reside in his district.

The matter is also complicated because of ongoing societal changes, 
he said. When voters approved the underlying cultivation rules in 
2014, many were angered and tired from being negatively impacted by 
cultivation.

This year, Connelly said the vote could go either way, depending on 
how the issue is presented. He said presentations for either side 
should be educational.

Beyond the petitions, some groups, including the cannabis farmers 
group, are seeking more fundamental changes to how the county handles 
marijuana. Connelly said it was their prerogative to take it to the voters.

"I don't see the board marking sweeping changes in the immediate 
future," he said.

There have been mixed results in past elections over medical 
marijuana. In June 2012, 55 percent of 50,423 voters rejected county 
rules banning cultivation on lots smaller than a half-acre. In 
November 2014, 60 percent of 60,821 voters approved the rules that 
remain in effect today as Measure A.

The current rules generally set growing dimensions based on lot size, 
ranging from 50 square-feet for lots between a half-acre and 5 acres 
to 150 square-feet for properties larger than 10 acres.

During the first year of enforcement in 2015, county staff issued 894 
citations and saw to eradication of 34,556 plants. The county said 
its enforcement costs were $375,996, which was 57 percent of what was budgeted.

The county collected $171,175 in fines, which was just 6 percent of 
the $2.93 million total fines issued.

In its January vote, the county board unanimously approved changes 
characterized as clarifying the allowable garden sizes and combining 
the citation and nuisance abatement process into one.

Supervisors also changed the county's right-to-farm ordinance to 
state that marijuana cultivation isn't deemed an agricultural 
operation. The right-to-farm rules limit when proper farming 
operations may be deemed a nuisance under local rules. Counting 
marijuana as agriculture could possibly conflict with the county's 
cultivation rules that treat violations as nuisances.

MacKenzie has said voters should be able to decide substantial 
changes to the ordinances. She has also said there was no reason to 
change the right-to-farm ordinance other than to stigmatize marijuana 
growers. The old rules respect federal laws, where marijuana is a 
prohibited substance.

The supervisors meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the County 
Administration Building, 25 County Center Drive, Oroville. Meeting 
agendas and video may be found at tinyurl.com/buttesupervisors
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom