LAKEPORT, Calif. – Following a lengthy discussion and extensive public comment, the Lakeport City Council approved new guidelines that allow for commercial marijuana, or cannabis, operations in certain areas of the city.

The council had an initial discussion on both the commercial regulations as well as updated rules – with only minor changes – for personal cannabis cultivation, formerly referred to in city rules as medical marijuana, at its Dec. 4 meeting.

On Tuesday, the council unanimously passed the personal cultivation rules after a brief discussion, with no members of the public giving any comment.

The council then moved on to the matter of commercial marijuana, which took up about an hour and a half of the meeting, which ran just over two hours and 45 minutes. The council chambers were nearly full for the marijuana-related matters.

Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said staff had taken the council’s comments at its Dec. 4 meeting and worked proposed changes into the updated draft ordinance before them. That document begins on page 63 of the agenda packet published below.

The council ultimately approved an ordinance that had several more substantive changes, which City Attorney David Ruderman said will require a second reading at a regular council meeting in January.

Those changes included allowing only retail delivery, with no storefronts; removing a 5-pound limit for retailers to have on hand at a location; eliminating a cap of two retailers; eliminating limits of 50 square feet of product space and 1,500 square feet of store area; and prohibiting delivery-only retailers from C2 commercial zoning.

A total of 13 individuals spoke to the council regarding the proposed ordinance. Nine of them had various concerns about marijuana, ranging from not wanting storefronts to not wanting commercial activities legalized in the city at all. The other four – including two in the cannabis business – spoke in favor of the regulations.

Longtime city resident Stan Jones, a retired law enforcement officer, said it has taken him a long time to buy into medical marijuana and he still doesn’t buy into commercial uses. He asked for the council to ban storefront dispensaries.

City Planning Commissioner Michael Green, who also is a marijuana consultant, urged the council to accept the rules. “I’m proud of the ordinance that’s before you today,” which he said gives the city a clean and elegant start on cannabis regulations.

City resident Annette Hopkins felt just the opposite. “Be cautious in your decision making. Don’t be pushed, prodded or otherwise massaged into making decisions that will have lasting and, at this time, unknown impacts,” she said, also asking for the council to not allow for retail or dispensary activity.

Chris Jennings, owner of Lakeside Herbal Solutions in Clearlake, encouraged the council to move forward with the ordinance. He said he’s expanding his operations in Clearlake once he opens a greenhouse facility and begins manufacturing, and expects to make $1.5 million in the first year. He said he also wants to put a dispensary in Lakeport.

“Lakeport lives on family-oriented tourism,” said another city resident, Meredith Lahmann. She said retail storefronts with marijuana won’t help that, and while she would like to deal with the black market, she didn’t think allowing commercial operations into Lakeport is the way to do it.

Lakeport businessman Mike Ewing also was against commercial operations in the city. “I think it’s a bad idea,” he said of selling “dope” in downtown Lakeport.

When the council began its discussion following public input, Mayor Stacey Mattina said the ordinance before them wasn’t the one she thought would be presented. She said the city initially had a far more modest version with no retail, businesses allowed in industrial and C3 zoning with delivery allowed.

That original ordinance, which came from a city working group, was sent to the Lakeport Planning Commission. “Now we have this ordinance that looks nothing like what we started with,” she said.

She was concerned about not knowing the full risks to the city, and urged fellow council members to pull back and keep working on the rules in the new year.

However, other council members didn’t agree, and wanted to move forward with adopting the regulations, which they noted had been the focus of an enormous amount of effort.

Councilman Kenny Parlet acknowledged the built-in prejudice against marijuana, and then revealed that his adult daughter uses it to relieve her rheumatoid arthritis pain.

“Doing nothing would be a serious mistake,” he said.

However, Parlet was willing to pull retail operations out and require other commercial activities be located in C3 or industrial zoning.

“This is an industry that carries a lot of baggage with it. Nobody is going to argue about that,” said Mayor Pro Tem Mireya Turner, who also is a county planner who has worked extensively on marijuana-related issues.

She said she’s honed her own priorities, which include public safety balanced with safety for those who want to consume marijuana. Turner said she also wanted access to a safe product.

Turner said she believed the ordinance almost accomplished the goals of maintaining public safety and creating a regulatory system. “This a pretty big first step.”

Recognizing that retail was a concern, Turner said she was fine with a slow approach.

“We’ve got to come to terms with the fact that people are doing it,” said Councilman Tim Barnes, who favored putting in place regulations that can be enforced.

Mattina asked if he was open to a more modest approach and Barnes said yes, noting that retail was definitely off the table at that point.

With the agreed-upon changes, including not allowing for dispensaries and keeping commercial operations in C3 and industrial zoning, Barnes moved to approve the ordinance with Turner seconding and the council voting 5-0.

They will take the final vote on the rules next month.

In other business on Tuesday, the council elected Turner as the new mayor and Barnes as mayor pro tem; the Lakeport Main Street Association presented the winners of its annual holiday decoration contest; the council adopted the proposed resolution approving the city of Lakeport’s Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program grant application for the creation of a local hazards mitigation plan; the council received a report on the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, regarding unaudited actuals and provide staff direction on the treatment of any surplus revenues; a new email server and new HVAC unit at 916 N. Forbes, formerly the Lakeport Police station, were approved; and the council adopted a resolution declaring Dec. 27 a holiday for city employees.

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121917 Lakeport City Council agenda packet by LakeCoNews on Scribd