MEDICAL MARIJUANA HEARING CONTINUED

CLEARLAKE -- The Clearlake Planning Commission continued a public
hearing Tuesday regarding a draft ordinance for regulating medical
marijuana dispensaries until the Jan. 19 meeting.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic
Drive. The public hearing pertaining to the ordinance initiated on
Dec. 1 and has been continued since as the commission continues to
hear comments from the public.

The commission itself has not alluded to any changes it may recommend;
however, City Administrator Dale Neiman has indicated that he will be
recommending a couple. Neiman said that he will be recommending that
requiring proof of patient registration with the city clerk be
eliminated from the regulations. He also said that he will be making
another recommendation pertaining to the proposed limit on patient
numbers. He said he will be seeking information from the three
dispensaries currently operating to determine supply and demand needs
and projected growth rates.

Neiman said he will also be seeking recommendations pertaining to
others sales permitted on site. The draft ordinance was originally
presented as part of police regulations. Neiman said that has changed
and the ordinance will eventually be adopted under zoning regulations.
Commission Chairman Albert Bernal said the panel will go through a
check list to fine-tune the draft prior to making its recommendations
to the city council.

He said the commission has heard several comments concerning

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areas of opposition and requested comments from the public concerning
those parts of the draft ordinance that are acceptable by the public.
Liz Byrd, who owns Lakeside Herbal Solution in Clearlake, was at the
podium when Bernal reiterated his request.

Byrd took the opportunity to go down the 46-item checklist voicing her
support or opposition of each item. While Byrd voiced support for
several items on the list, Attorney Ron Green followed her at the
podium and said that a simple yes or no is not really an adequate
response as it is the wording in the ordinance that causes concern.
Green and former public servant Ed Robey, have been extending their
services to the city throughout the process to draft the ordinance.
The pair went as far as composing their own ordinance, which was
delivered to governmental representatives on Monday. Green said they
tried to strike a balance between no regulations and onerous
regulations, the later of which is their description of the draft
document presented. The Green-Robey proposal is six and a half pages
long compared to the staff document that is 21 pages. "We respectfully
request that you review this carefully and use our proposed ordinance
rather than the police chief's, as a starting point for the
discussion. We believe that our proposed ordinance covers all the
necessary points without all the unnecessary verbiage and extremely
onerous regulation," Green stated. "We have attempted to strike a
balance between no regulation and the oppressive regulation of the
ordinance presented by the police chief and the city administrator."
Green said the Green-Robey proposal isn't perfect but it's a good
starting point. "We do not profess that it is perfect, but just a good
starting point that will lead you to a reasonable end result much
quicker than trying to fix the ordinance proposed by staff," he said.
Green reminded the panel that the document can always be amended later
if additional provisions and regulation appear necessary. The
commission accepted the document but did not indicate whether or not
they intend to use it The Clearlake Planning Commission meets
regularly at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of the month at
Clearlake City Hall. The regular meeting scheduled for Jan. 5 has been
canceled.

The next scheduled meeting is Jan. 19. Contact Denise Rockenstein at
drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444,
ext. 11.