MISSION VIEJO VOTES FOR POT 'GROW HOUSE' PENALTIES

MISSION VIEJO The City Council voted 4-1 to enact an ordinance that
would make the use of residential dwellings as commercial marijuana
"grow houses" punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine,
or both.

The new law was brought to the council by Councilman John Paul
Ledesma, who said he wanted to tackle the topic "before it becomes an
issue in the City of Mission Viejo," according to a staff report.

The law makes any commercial use, "quasi-commercial or nonresidential"
use of homes illegal under the city's municipal code, though City
Attorney Bill Curley said the law is geared toward bulk pot growers.

"We're looking for the excess, not for the patient with 12 plants," he
said. "That sort of ... singular use they've converted that house
into a greenhouse it's no longer a residence."

Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht cast the dissenting vote, calling the law
"abusive and invasive."

"I just can't support this. I think it's redundant. We already have
laws against the cultivation of marijuana," she said. "I just think
it's opening a door we don't need to."

In August, Santa Ana police following up a case found 214 pot plants
in a Mission Viejo home near Barcelona Hills Elementary, according to
a Register report.

Curley said the city would not seek out grow houses, rather the law is
an extra measure on top of existing laws, since state laws do not
"really address land use."

The ordinance will have a second reading at the council's Sept. 20
meeting, and if passed again, will become law one month after.