The green grass of home
Bishop City Council tackled the sticky issue of medical marijuana cultivation at its regular meeting on Monday in an attempt to meet a March 1 state deadline for municipalities and counties to implement their own set of rules or be forced to accept the regulations set in place by the state in the future. With the exception of Councilman Joe Pecsi, Council support the idea of allowing residents with the appropriate medical prescription to grow their own medical marijuana indoors.
City Council was made aware that the County Board of Supervisors took a “wait and see” approach the week before after being told that the March 1 deadline will likely be changed based on information county officials received from Paul Smith, the senior legislative advocate for Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC). Council members seem determined to put something in place regardless. Whatever they “decide now can always be changed later,” said Mayor Pat Gardner.
City Attorney Ryan Jones told Council members that the Bishop Planning Commission was not overly impressed with the two samples of proposed ordinances sent to them last week, one of which would have banned cultivation and the other which allowed for limited indoor cultivation. While the Planning Commission did recommend a ban on outdoor cultivation, it also was fairly liberal in its approach to cultivation of indoor plants, recommending a growing area of 100 square feet.
Although Councilman Pesci, the former Bishop Police Chief, insisted that marijuana is a “gateway drug,” his position was in sharp contrast to those of the other four council members. Mayor Pro Tem Laura Smith said that she has talked to a lot of people who might be effected by the ordinance, as well as with medical providers. What she took from her conversations with them was: “For those that need medical marijuana, it helps, it really helps.” As a result, she felt that those “who really need it, should have access to it.”
Council member Karen Schwartz expressed the opinion that the City should work closely with the County to avoid differences zoning and enforcement where possible.
While Council member Jim Ellis said that he thought the 100-square-foot recommendation on indoor cultivation from the Planning Commission was too large (a sentiment also shared by Smith), he supported indoor cultivation of medical marijuana for personal use by those that need it and suggested (based on his experience growing tomatoes) that 50-square-feet was a good compromise between the initially proposed 25-square-feet and the 100-square-feet currently allowed under state regulations.
Recent state polls indicate that voters will likely pass a state proposition next fall in 2016 to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use and, in a sign of the times, Members of Congress released a $1.9 trillion government spending bill on Wednesday that extends protections for medical marijuana patients and providers who operate in accordance with state laws.
If the Fiscal Year 2016 spending bill passes as expected, it will reauthorize current laws set out in the 2015 budget that block the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Administration from using public funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws and state hemp programs.
While not firmly decided, it appears that the final ordinance will ban outdoor cultivation, allow indoor cultivation in Multi-family residences (with landlord permission) and single-family homes, limit indoor cultivation to an area not greater than 50-square feet or six mature and 12 immature plants, keep the 600-foot buffer zones currently found in state law, not require a 6-foot fencing rule for outdoor buildings used for cultivation (such as greenhouses), have no restrictions on ages of occupants (under 18), keep a public nuisance policy in place, and have the permitting and licensing managed through city administration rather than the police department.
City Administrator Jim Tatum told Council that “Enforcement will be re-active, not pro-active,” noting that complaints will go through the Building Department or Bishop Police depending on the nature of the complaint.
There are no current ordinances that prohibit the cultivation of medical marijuana within either the County or City of Bishop. The first reading on the final ordinance will be held at the City Council’s Jan. 11 meeting. The public is encouraged to attend and make comments.
