'A NEIGHBORHOOD PROBLEM': EUREKA NEIGHBORS TAKE TO COURTS TO FIGHT
GROW HOUSE -- AND WIN

The topic of neighborhood grow houses has many Humboldt County
residents flummoxed, but a group of neighbors in Eureka banded
together and did something about it.

At first blush, the 200 block of Hillsdale Street in Eureka doesn't
seem much different than other Eureka neighborhoods. Tall, two-story
brightly painted Victorians line both sides of the street, sitting
behind well-kept lawns. A few modern homes are sprinkled between the
old houses. There is little traffic on the street.

However, according to court documents, the neighborhood was in
considerable discord this time last year. They claimed the pungent
smell of growing marijuana plants filled the block, and that neighbors
lived in constant fear of fires from faulty wiring and armed robbers
mistakenly entering their home instead of the grow house everyone knew
to be on the block. Property values in the area decreased due to an
increased police presence because of the grow house, they claimed, and
neighbors stopped letting their children play in the front yard due to
safety concerns.

In total, 14 neighbors filed small claims lawsuits against the owner
of the house in question, Alan Oliver Ebenstein, each seeking $7,500
and claiming that the growing operation represented a nuisance that
Ebenstein -- who lives in Santa Barbara and was renting out the house
to tenants -- failed to abate.

Earlier this month, Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Dale
Reinholtsen ruled that Ebenstein's actions -- or lack thereof --
constituted a nuisance and awarded the neighbors a total of $32,000,
with each of the 14 plaintiffs getting a sum of either $4,000 or
$2,000. The ruling is a unique one and might give neighbors of
residential grow operations throughout the county the inspiration to
stop calling the police and, instead, take to the courts.

Reached Friday, Ebenstein said he intends to appeal the ruling, adding
that he feels Reinholtsen made "significant factual errors" in the
ruling.

According to court documents in the case, neighbors have long been
concerned about a grow operation on the property and notified
Ebenstein of their concerns in March 2009 with an anonymous phone
call. A letter introduced into the court file by Ebenstein indicates
that he talked to his attorney about the phone call and was advised to
inspect the property. Reinholtsen's ruling indicates that inspection
never took place, but Ebenstein was adamant Friday that he did inspect
the property after being advised to do so by his attorney, and he
found no indication of any grow operation on the premises.

In addition to the anonymous call, neighbors also placed numerous
calls to the Eureka Police Department to report their suspicions.
After receiving information from a variety of sources, EPD Detective
Neil Hubbard contacted one of the tenants of the property, Greg
Garrison, on Dec. 2, 2009. Garrison reportedly freely admitted that he
was growing about 80 marijuana plants on the property and did not have
a medical marijuana recommendation.

On Jan. 20, officers served a search warrant on the property, finding
almost 4 pounds of dried, processed marijuana and 79 growing plants,
as well as plastic Ziploc bags, scales and handwritten directions and
scales for the grow room.

According to court documents, Garrison and his wife, Charlotta
Bernier, also admitted to officers that the "premises were 'set up'
for growing marijuana" in September 2009 when they moved in and that a
crop of marijuana was even there ready to be harvested when they moved
in.

Hubbard said it was clear that the operation had been up and running
for some time, and court documents indicate the floor of an upstairs
room had been covered in plastic and then with about 6 inches of soil,
wall to wall. Air vents installed in the ceiling led to a large filter
system, according to the documents.

"This was obviously not their first grow," Hubbard said in a phone
interview last week.

Additionally, Hubbard said he called in members of Eureka's building
and fire departments to inspect the property, as there were clearly
unsafe wiring modifications made to accommodate the grow operation.
According to court filings, the fire department inspectors found
numerous code violations and hazards, and called in Pacific Gas and
Electric Co. to pull the property's electricity meter.

Shortly after the search warrant was served, the neighbors notified
Ebenstein of their claim for damages. When he reportedly declined to
pay them for damages, they filed their lawsuits with the court.

The 14 plaintiffs in the case either declined to comment for this
story or could not be reached by the Times-Standard's deadline.

According to his ruling, Reinholtsen found the plaintiffs made a
strong case in court.

"The evidence supports a conclusion that the nuisance conducted on the
premises interfered with plaintiffs' use and enjoyment of their
property," Reinholtsen wrote in the ruling. "The plaintiffs suffered
substantial actual damages, and the use of the premises by defendant
and his tenants was unreasonable."

Ebenstein said he plans to appeal the ruling in the coming weeks and
was adamant that he never knew of a marijuana grow operation at his
property until EPD notified him after serving the search warrant.
Then, Ebenstein said, he acted quickly to evict the tenants and
upgrade the wiring problems and code violations on the property.

"I don't feel this was an appropriate judgment," he said, adding that
Reinholtsen failed to account for his testimony that he personally
inspected the property after the March 2009 phone call from an
anonymous neighbor.

Further, Ebenstein said, he feels the neighbors could have done more
to advise him of their concerns. Though he lives in Santa Barbara, he
said he is far from an oblivious absentee landlord.

Ebenstein said he has family in the area and visits the county at
least once a month, making a point to drive by each of the six
properties he owns in town when he does. He said he does not condone
nor permit marijuana grows on his property.

"It's something that I'm very concerned about," Ebenstein said. "I
don't think that grow houses are good things. ... I've always had it
as a firm rule that I don't want people growing marijuana on my
properties."

With the seemingly ever-increasing gray area of the state's marijuana
law, Hubbard said frustrated neighbors may be wise to follow the
Hillsdale Street neighborhood's lead. He said this is increasingly a
problem that falls outside of police hands, noting that the tenants at
Ebenstein's house were not arrested nor charged for the grow operation.

Hubbard said he's never heard of a small claims case like the one
brought forward by the Hillsdale neighbors, but would like to see more
of them.

"The grow houses are really not so much of a police problem anymore,"
Hubbard said. "It's a neighborhood problem. I'm glad to see (the
Hillsdale neighbors) stepped to the plate and took this on. ... It's
going to take that kind of thing to improve these properties. I'd like
to see more of it."