CLEARLAKE, Calif. – At its Tuesday meeting the Clearlake Planning Commission will take up a proposed ordinance that would ban commercial grows on vacant properties and enact plant limits in other areas of the city.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 7, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.
In her report to the commission, City Manager Joan Phillipe said the proposed ordinance used the county’s ordinance as a template.
Cultivation would be banned on vacant parcels. On residential properties there can be no more than six marijuana plants on less than half an acre; 12 plants on half an acre or larger with a 75-foot setback from any off-site residence; 18 plants on parcels between one and five acres, with 150-foot setbacks from any off-site residence; 36 plants on parcels between five and 40 acres, also with 150-foot setbacks; and 48 plants on parcels 40 acres or larger with the 150-foot setback from residences off the property.
Phillipe said the city attorney will be evaluating the California Supreme Court decision handed down on Monday regarding Riverside v. Inland Empire Patients’ Health and Wellness Center, and Phillipe will give the commission an update on Tuesday night’s meeting about the attorney’s findings.
In that decision, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that local governments can ban medical marijuana dispensaries, and that laws pertaining to medical marijuana don’t supersede local zoning rules.
Other items on the agenda for the Tuesday meeting include selection of the commission’s chair and vice chair, and an update on the general plan and environmental impact report.
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050713 Clearlake Planning Commission - Cultivation Ordinance Staff Report
050713 Clearlake Planning Commission - Draft Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance