Pubdate: Wed, 25 May 2016
Source: Portland Tribune (OR)
Copyright: 2016 Pamplin Media Group
Contact: http://www.portlandtribune.com/forms/letters_form.php
Website: http://www.portlandtribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2056
Author: Peter Wong

CLACKAMAS COUNTY MOVES TOWARD MARIJUANA TAX

Commissioners OK Step After Beefing Up Zoning Enforcement.

Clackamas County voters will be asked to approve a 3 percent local tax
on retail sales of marijuana for recreational use.

County commissioners started the process of referring the tax to the
Nov. 8 ballot Tuesday, after they approved several steps to beef up
enforcement against marijuana-related violations of zoning and
development regulations.

"This commission has said we want teeth in this, so let's put some
teeth into it," Commissioner Tootie Smith said.

According to a staff report, the county had 20 zoning cases as of May
4; 12 are pending, five are verified, two are near resolution and one
has been resolved.

Commissioners adopted broader changes in the zoning and development
ordinance, covering both medical and recreational marijuana, which
took effect at the start of this year. They had asked the planning
staff and county lawyers for ways to step up enforcement.

The zoning code sets out where growing and processing can occur
outside city limits, and requirements for setbacks, lighting, and
noise and odor control.

The proposed 3 percent local tax will be on top of a 17 percent state
tax already approved by the Legislature. If county voters approve the
local tax, both would take effect Jan. 1 and replace a 25 percent
temporary tax on recreational-use sales by medical-marijuana
dispensaries.

Counties and cities can impose a 3 percent tax if voters approve
it.

Commissioners have yet to discuss how to spend proceeds from the local
tax, although Chairman John Ludlow said likely purposes are for law
enforcement and zoning-code enforcement.

Commissioner Jim Bernard said he would like to see some money
earmarked for prevention of drug abuse.

That discussion would precede a resolution by the commissioners to
refer a local tax to the Nov. 8 ballot.

Clackamas County also would share in proceeds from the state tax, uses
for which are specified by the ballot measure that Oregon voters
approved in 2014 when they legalized marijuana for recreational use.

Of the state proceeds, 10 percent will go to cities and 10 percent
will go to counties for law enforcement. However, counties and cities
that opt out of retail marijuana sales will not share any money.

Seven Clackamas County cities - Gladstone, Happy Valley, Lake Oswego,
Oregon City, Sandy, West Linn and Wilsonville - have chosen to opt
out, although their decisions are subject to voter approval on Nov. 8.
(Damascus also opted out, but there will be no election there, because
voters disincorporated the city as of July 18.)

Enforcement action

County commissioners took an initial step toward a local tax after
approving several steps toward increasing penalties for
marijuana-related zoning violations.

Among them are a maximum civil penalty of $5,000 per day - the current
maximum for any zoning violation is $3,500 per day - and separate
amounts of $1,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second
violation, and $10,000 for a third violation. The usual amount for a
first violation is $500.

Those changes are likely to require an amendment to the zoning
code.

Although marijuana producers and processors must get land-use
clearances from counties and cities, licenses are issued by the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission for recreational operations and the Oregon
Health Authority for medical marijuana operations.

Licenses do not apply to households, which can grow four plants.
Medical-marijuana cardholders and caregivers also are subject to
different state limits on plants.

"I think we are going to revisit this issue a lot," Ludlow
said.

Among the other steps approved by county commissioners:

- - Coordinate with other agencies, including the county sheriff and the
Oregon State Police.

- - Initiate an investigation by the county's code enforcement employees
upon receipt of one confidential complaint, instead of two complaints.

- - Require other county employees to report apparent zoning violations
they see as they perform their normal duties, although action would be
left to code enforcement.

- - Require code enforcement to refer a first-time violator of
marijuana-related zoning regulations to the county hearings officer,
instead of after a second violation.

- - Set a schedule of weekly hearings, instead of twice monthly, so that
a hearings officer can take up a violation case sooner. (A 15-day
notice remains in place.)

- - Make it easier for the county to collect for violations and civil
penalties.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D