However, with that step also came another slight delay; the ordinance had been approved the previous week and expected to have its second and final reading on Tuesday.
The board instead decided to accept additional changes proposed by Community Development Department staff which County Counsel Anita Grant cautioned changed the document enough that Tuesday’s consideration needed to be considered the first, not the second, reading.
A copy of the staff’s strike-through and underlined version of the ordinance with changes the board had ordered the previous week, along with additional proposed changes, is published below.
Some of the changes were minor, involving numbering and formatting, while others were more substantive.
Community Development Director Bob Massarelli said one necessary update resulted from the board directing the removal of a requirement for a zoning permit, which would have required modifications of use permits for apartments and mobile home parks, so staff developed language to address that.
Some language was clarifying, such as relating to height of structures, not plants, outlined in the development standards, and ensuring that it’s understood that applications for permits require the property owner’s written consent; outlining differences between necessary state permits and licenses that are required; making clear the qualifications for minor and major use permits; and adding references for early activation of commercial cannabis permits – which existed already in the ordinance – to other parts of the document.
During public comment, the board heard input regarding setting up the sheriff to do the necessary background checks, and fielded a request from Michael Green of the Lake County Growers Association who, while agreeing with the proposed changes, said still more work needed to be done as far as addressing several technical errors his group said the document contains.
And while other growers lauded the board for taking its time to create the rules, they didn’t want further delays, even of just a week.
“Nothing’s ever perfect,” said Frank Perez of Rancho de La Fuente.
Supervisor Jeff Smith wanted to be cautious. “As always, I would rather do it the safe way and the correct way, and that is to do the first reading today and the second reading next week with all the changes that were made.”
Supervisor Moke Simon showed some of the same impatience exhibited by community members. “We gotta get it done,” he said. “It keeps getting pushed down the road.”
Grant told them that no matter what they decided to do, there would likely be future changes as things evolve.
“There will be cleanup, I can promise you that, with a 60-page ordinance or 50-page ordinance of this type,” she said, adding there will be such cleanup in every jurisdiction where such ordinances are being drafted.
The board considered removing Community Development’s latest changes in order to move the ordinance forward. However, Smith pointed out that leaving in a minor use permit for early activation – which staff had suggested be removed – could actually add another step in the process for growers, slowing them down in the long term more than a week’s delay for the ordinance.
Agreeing with Smith that the ordinance needed to be fixed and given final approval at the board’s next meeting, Supervisor Tina Scott moved to approve a first reading of the updated document.
The board voted 4-1 to approve the motion. The lone dissenting vote was Supervisor Rob Brown.
The ordinance is expected to be placed on the March 20 meeting’s consent agenda, as additional changes aren’t anticipated to be made to the document.
In other news, the board continued proclamations of local emergencies due to the Rocky, Jerusalem, Valley, Clayton and Sulphur fires and the atmospheric river storm of last year, heard a report on the 2015 Dislocated Worker Grant for Valley fire disaster and discussed that grant for 2017, considered an appointment to the Building Board of Appeals and finished out the meeting with Grant leading a training and brushup for the board on Brown Act compliance.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
CDD Ver. DRAFT Cannabis Cultivation Ord 03092018 by LakeCoNews on Scribd