TEHAMA COUNTY ADOPTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA CULTIVATION ORDINANCE

Tehama County supervisors Tuesday voted 4-1 to adopt a long-debated
ordinance that regulates cultivation of medicinal marijuana in the
county's unincorporated areas.

Originally scheduled for a quarter-hour, the matter stretched out over
90 minutes after about a dozen people, many of them medical marijuana
patients, addressed the board.

At one point leaving the dais to question his colleagues from the
speaker's lectern, Supervisor Charlie Willard cast the lone dissenting
vote. A key concern was the required 1,000-foot distance between
school bus stops and gardens.

Willard argued that with 18 school districts in the county and 55 bus
stops in the Antelope district alone, far too much acreage would be
off-limits for growers. He also said he fears the ordinance would be
too limiting for people on small parcels.

In addition to restricting the number of plants based on parcel size
and the 1,000-foot buffer, the ordinance requires registration with
the county Health Services Agency and a 6-foot fence around outdoor
gardens. The new law is complaint-driven, with violators issued a
notice to abate the nuisance or potentially face the cost of having
county officials tear out r gardens.

Jason Browne, a patient and longtime medicinal marijuana advocate,
took issue with speakers who supported the ordinance.

"We see through your smokescreen," he said. "Stand up and be proud of
your reefer madness," a reference to a 1936 marijuana scare film that
eventually became a comedic classic among smokers. Browne and others
warned the board's action would leave the county vulnerable to lawsuits.

"You're creating a problem for the county that's costing money," said
Donna Will, also a patient and grower. "You're not doing yourselves
any favors by doing this."

But Rick Ortega, a resident of the Quail Ridge subdivision, said the
"crops" in his neighborhood had created a lot of worry and traffic.

"I'm going to tell you they're not from around here," he
said.

The ordinance was slightly modified since the draft was released in
February, allowing people on parcels of 20 acres or less to ask for
exemption from a 100-foot setback rule if it creates a hardship.

"Obviously the majority of the audience who have spoken favor
medicinal marijuana," Supervisor George Russell said before his vote.
But the law is unclear and the courts will ultimately decide, he said.

"To me this is a reasonable compromise," he said.

Supervisor Gregg Avilla noted that even after the sheriff identifies a
nuisance, the grower can appeal.

"It doesn't end there," he said.

The board has been wrestling with the issue since June, after
Supervisor Bob Williams received complaints from residents in the
Gerber area. A proposed ordinance discussed July 14 was shelved to
allow more study, with Williams and Avilla appointed to an ad hoc
committee to explore a new one.