- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Lakeport City Council holds further discussion on proposed commercial marijuana rules
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council met last week to continue to work through proposed new marijuana regulations, and approve a job classification, bonds and an equipment purchase.
The council’s special Dec. 4 meeting was largely focused on another consideration of proposed new rules for commercial marijuana, or cannabis, operations.
The proposed rules were recommended to the council by the Lakeport Planning Commission, whose members put extensive work into reviewing them this fall. The council took them up at the Nov. 21 meeting and set them for a formal public hearing at its Dec. 19 meeting, as Lake County News has reported.
Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said the rule updates are necessary to be in line with state regulations, with the state having given local jurisdictions a deadline of the end of this year to have their rules in place.
Police Chief Brad Rasmussen polled seven other jurisdictions about calls for service at their marijuana dispensaries. Only one – the city of Arcata – had responded to him by the time the meeting was held, and while he didn’t have time to sit and analyze the numbers, they did not look out of line with retail stores in Lakeport of similar size.
Councilman Kenny Parlet said it didn’t look like the facilities had large crime impacts, and helped address those types of concerns.
During public comment, the council heard from Kimberly Chilcutt, founder of a medicinal cannabis company, who pointed out what she considered was a significant hole in the rules, specifically, for small manufacturers and microbusinesses like hers.
Chilcutt said she uses nontoxic and biodegradable organic vegetable glycerin to make cannabis tinctures and topicals at her home. One of her key pieces of equipment is a crockpot.
“I do everything I can to be in accordance with the law,” she said. She added, “I don’t want to be cut out of what’s going on here.”
Mayor Stacey Mattina asked Ingram if Chilcutt’s operation fits the city’s residential policy. Ingram said no, that allowing for such operations in residences hasn’t been proposed.
Councilwoman Mireya Turner said Chilcutt’s situation is an example of the kind of caution that the council needs to use as it proceeds in creating new city rules.
Chilcutt asked the council to consider her unique situation. If the city insists she move to a commercial location, “I’m done. I can't afford it. I give too much away.”
Lakeport resident Stan Jones said he didn’t feel the city needs storefront commercial marijuana operations. He said he can live with delivery sales “but not happily,” and specifically asked them not to allow onsite consumption.
Planning Commissioner Michael Green said he didn’t see marijuana being a good fit in a residential area, period. He said the city should explore the state’s mini collective concept, but added that doesn’t belong in residential zoning, either.
Green, a marijuana industry consultant, said sole proprietors are caught in the middle of up and coming commercial operations.
Melissa Fulton, chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, told the council that rules the county puts in place in the unincorporated areas could alleviate the pressure in the city related to situations involving dispensaries, as the county areas could bear that business.
Lakeport Fire Chief Doug Hutchison said his agency also is watching to see the developing regulations. He was concerned about solvents, and said that so far it was hard to determine what would be needed from his department in the permitting and inspection process.
Hutchison said there isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t see a news story about an extraction lab that goes bad or an indoor grow in a residential area that’s discovered as the result of a fire. He recounted the discovery of a lab on Bevins Street that had used dangerous venting procedures.
Other residents brought up concerns about having storefront dispensaries in the city’s downtown and on 11th Street.
Chilcutt returned to the microphone to speak against deliveries rather than storefront dispensaries, noting, “Deliveries are very dangerous” due to the potential for robbery.
Parlet agreed that delivery seemed sketchy and brick and mortar dispensaries appeared a better way to go for distribution.
Mattina said many cities are banning commercial marijuana operations for now, and she wanted to see what the state would do with its regulations. She added that the city has been trying to find a happy medium. “We need to start somewhere.”
Turner said there are regulations at the state level that are attempting to make deliveries as safe as possible. However, she had concerns about enforceability on the local level if they tried to ban deliveries.
Green told the council that they needed to serve local patients, who he said aren’t going to show up at meetings to advocate for dispensaries.
Parlet suggested the city could make some allowance for medical marijuana dispensaries but not recreational storefronts as a sort of compromise.
In regard to concern about meeting an end-of-year deadline, City Attorney David Ruderman said that when the council holds the Dec. 19 hearing on the proposed regulations, if they make substantial changes they would need to bring them back at a regular meeting.
However, he noted that the city may have some room early in the new year to finalize its rules in order to meet state requirements thanks to new state emergency regulations.
In other news, the council took the following actions:
– Approved a new classification for police detective with a salary range earning $4,708 to $6,012 per month, and the reclassification of one police officer position to police detective in the 2017-18 budget.
– Considered and approved resolutions for the authorization, preparation and sale of wastewater revenue bonds to repay the city for project costs associated with the wastewater system improvement project.
– Authorized City Manager Margaret Silveira to sign the associated purchase order and purchase agreement for a 2017 Hamm Model HD-14-VV double drum vibratory roller for paving projects at a cost of $62,748.75.
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Agenda-Packet-2017-12-04---Special-Meeti-121201712207AM by LakeCoNews on Scribd