SHASTA LAKE ESTABLISHES POT REGULATIONS

After almost a year of development, the Shasta Lake City Council this
week established regulations for growing medical marijuana.

Councilors voted 4-1 Tuesday to approve a first reading of the
ordinance. Councilwoman Dolores Lucero dissented.

A second reading is set for the Dec. 21 council meeting, said Carla
L. Thompson, the city's development services director.

The ordinance, which has been revised a number of times and has been
the focus of several public hearings, has been in the development
stage since Jan. 19 when the City Council decided to develop growing
regulations, according to staff reports.

The ordinance allows anyone with a valid doctor's recommendation to
grow for personal use, while those who grow for collectives would be
required to obtain a permit from the city.

Under the new law growing would be allowed only in residential or
mixed-used zoning districts, while it would be banned in commercial
and industrial districts.

Councilman Greg Watkins questioned a ban on growing inside a home.

"How is the city going to enforce that as they would need a search
warrant to discover a violation?" Watkins asked Wednesday in an e-mail.

The ordinance allows for growing up to 100 square feet inside a
garage or adjacent building.

Outdoor growing is limited to 25 square feet on a half-acre parcel,
60 square feet on a parcel between a half-acre and one acre and 240
square feet on parcels larger than one acre. Outdoor grows must also
be enclosed in a 6-foot high, non-climbable fence with a locking gate.

Chain-link fences are not allowed, according to the ordinance.

Lucero said Wednesday she doesn't think residents should be allowed
to grow in smaller neighborhoods and people with doctors'
recommendations should grow on larger lots, an acre or more, or
outside city limits.

"That would eliminate a lot of issues," Lucero said.

Most of the complaints she's received are from older residents on
smaller properties who say their neighbors are growing too close to
their homes, Lucero said.

"They want this to stop," she said.

Dennis and Monica Corp, who have lived on Loch Place in Shasta Lake
for more than 25 years, e-mailed Lucero Nov. 2 to ask the council to
take action against unregulated grows.

"The property to our immediate east has 12 10-foot tall plants
growing in the back yard," the Corps said in the e-mail. "We have
endured the smell and the traffic and we are tired of it!"

Lucero also questioned a section of the ordinance that releases the
city from liability should any injuries, accidents or illegal
activities occur at a grow site with a permit.

"It doesn't make sense to do that," she said.

The council also voted Tuesday to allow collectives in the city to
sell pipes and rolling papers.

The change in the zoning ordinance was approved 4-1, with Councilman
Larry Farr dissenting.

Farr did not return an e-mail Thursday seeking comment.

The council had asked the city staff to take another look at pipe and
rolling paper sales in October at the request of Jamie Kerr, owner of
the 530 Collective.

On the advice of City Attorney John Kenny, the city Planning
Commission recommended against pipe and rolling paper sales.

But Kerr argued Tuesday that pipes and papers are not considered drug
paraphernalia for those who smoke marijuana legally, much as syringes
are legal for a diabetic who injects insulin.

"If medical marijuana is lawful in the State of California then any
implement used to administer it cannot be considered paraphernalia,"
Kerr wrote in a Nov. 17 letter to the Planning Commission which was
included in the staff report.