Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
There are five key elements — some separate, some similar and all intertwined — that could determine how commercial cannabis is regulated and cultivated in Calaveras County. One factor is now a temporary county law, three more will be on the Nov. 8 ballot and the fifth potential factor could be a special election in March to ban all commercial growing in the county.
Since the Butte Fire seemingly opened to floodgates for commercial marijuana grows, officials have scrambled to deal regulations, permits, petition initiatives and new ballot measures. For some readers, it might be challenging to follow the latest developments in the county's effort to deal with cannabis issues.
Calaveras is the only one of its neighbor counties that has not banned medical cannabis cultivation and commerce. Bans are in effect in Amador, Alpine, Tuolumne, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
After the Butte Fire, land that had been 5-acre homesites for decades were destroyed. Sellers were plentiful and growers rushed in to buy.
Longtime residents have told the Board of Supervisors that interspersed among farmers who sought legitimacy and social acceptance were outlaws squatting on private land, or buying up 5-acre parcels and blitzing their new neighbors with generators, grow lights, guard dogs and assault rifles.
The board tried in February to pass an ordinance that would reign in this suddenly fast-growing industry. The measure failed to gather a majority vote, and supervisors continued to hear complaints of out-of-control and illegal behavior. So the board tried again, and on May 10, a majority voted for an ordinance to bring cannabis grows under some level of control.
It was passed as an "urgency," or temporary law and will serve until the board can decide on a permanent ordinance, in six months to a year. However, a measure placed on the November ballot by citizen signatures would take the place of the permanent ordinance now being developed by the Planning Department.
Here is an update on the current factors in the county's effort to deal with marijuana farming. All measures described below are centered on commercial cannabis production. Personal and caregiver use remains permitted.
1. The urgency ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors on May 10
This is the current county law. It required anyone who wants to be a legal medical marijuana grower to register with the county Planning Department by June 30. Marijuana grows established after May 10 are illegal and the growers are subject to legal and code enforcement action.
This law coordinates with the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA), which was passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015. It went into effect in January 2016 and will create a statewide bureaucracy to administer and regulate medical cannabis by early 2018. In order to participate, growers must register beforehand with the state or their county, if the county has not banned the substance.
But the law is essentially a short-term fix for the county. By adopting the "urgency" ordinance, the county put registration, law enforcement and code enforcement in place while staffers develop a permanent law for cannabis cultivation and commerce.
By July 15, Calaveras County received $3.7 million from registration fees paid from more than 770 growers. By state law, the money raised from registration can only pay for administration, law enforcement and code enforcement of the listed, registered growers. It is far more than the 200 growers, or $1 million in fees originally, and cautiously, predicted by county officials and cannabis industry representatives.
The Planning Department is moving ahead with registrant application reviews and developing a required environmental impact report for the ordinance. It is anticipated that the final number of approved permits will be something less than 770, but the county won't complete the application reviews for several weeks.
2. Measure D on November's ballot, the proposed, citizen-supported cannabis regulation law
On June 30, the Calaveras County Elections Department confirmed there were enough valid signatures on petitions to place a cannabis regulation measure on the Nov. 8 ballot. At their July 12 meeting, the Board of Supervisors had the option to enact the measure by majority vote or to move it along to the voters. They voted to move the measure to the November general election.
The so-called Stevenot Measure, named for Bardon Stevenot, an initiative author, local wine pioneer and multi-generational county native, includes language from the supervisors' failed effort in February and language from the May 10 temporary ordinance that is now law. It carefully avoids the distinction between medical and recreational cannabis cultivation.
It allows supervisors to amend the law by adding sections to address issues like public health, safety and noise. It adds a $500 county road fee to the expenses of commercial growers.
Passage would make progress toward a permanent county ordinance irrelevant; it would take its place and would make the EIR process unnecessary.
3. Measure C on November's ballot, a tax measure approved by the Board of Supervisors
On July 12, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors approved a tax measure for the November election that could bring between $15 million and $20 million into the Calaveras County general fund, according to estimates by Calaveras Cannabis Alliance executive director Caslin Tomaszewski and by Planning Director Peter Maurer.
The measure to tax commercial cannabis farmers would levy a $2 fee for every square foot of canopy for outdoor growers and $5 fee per square foot of canopy for indoor growers. It also seeks a gross proceeds tax of 7 percent on retail medicinal or legal cannabis storefronts, collectives and dispensaries.
Spending of the tax money would be limited. They would go into the county's general fund and could be used at the discretion of the board.
If passed by the voters, the first of two annual invoices for the tax would go to growers in April 2017. Exact income numbers would await the final count of valid farming permits following the board's May 10 temporary ordinance.
4. A potential ballot measure for a total ban on all commercial cannabis cultivation and commerce. A special election would be held in March 2017
There was a chance that dueling measures over cannabis would be on the November ballot. But the one petition initiative proposing a ban failed to pass muster at the county Elections Department because of a formatting error on the signature sheets.
A new effort, from a group spearheaded by original ban proponent Bill McManus and former county Planning Commissioner David Tunno, was filed with the elections department on July 14. McManus says his group wants to qualify the proposal for a special election in March.
They will need to acquire 3,143 valid signatures, recorded on properly formatted forms, to qualify. An Elections Department spokeswoman said the election could cost the county as much as $20,000 to place a single question on the ballot.
McManus said he hopes to gather 8,000 signatures, not only to meet the Elections Department requirements, but "as a political statement."
If approved by voters, a ban would eliminate both tax and fee income from commercial cannabis farmers, since they would no longer be legal, and replaces whichever county regulation and enforcement law is active. McManus said the ban measure would still permit personal and caregiver production
State Proposition 64, a measure to make recreational cannabis use legal in California
The initiative is designed to legalize marijuana and hemp under state law and enact a 15 percent sales tax as well as a cultivation tax of $9.25 per ounce for flowers and $2.75 per ounce for leaves, with exceptions for qualifying medical marijuana sales and cultivation.
The initiative is also designed to prevent licenses for corporate or large-scale marijuana businesses for five years in order to deter the "unreasonable restraints on competition by creation or maintenance of unlawful monopoly power."
Other provisions relate to rights of employers, driving under the influence, and marijuana business locations. It exempts medical marijuana from some state taxation, and authorized resentencing and destruction of records for prior marijuana convictions.
California voters were given the chance to legalize recreational marijuana in 2010 under Proposition 19, but the measure was defeated.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Five Elements Could Decide Fate Of Calaveras Cannabis
Author: Terry Grillo
Contact: 209.754.3861
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Calaveras Enterprise
Since the Butte Fire seemingly opened to floodgates for commercial marijuana grows, officials have scrambled to deal regulations, permits, petition initiatives and new ballot measures. For some readers, it might be challenging to follow the latest developments in the county's effort to deal with cannabis issues.
Calaveras is the only one of its neighbor counties that has not banned medical cannabis cultivation and commerce. Bans are in effect in Amador, Alpine, Tuolumne, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
After the Butte Fire, land that had been 5-acre homesites for decades were destroyed. Sellers were plentiful and growers rushed in to buy.
Longtime residents have told the Board of Supervisors that interspersed among farmers who sought legitimacy and social acceptance were outlaws squatting on private land, or buying up 5-acre parcels and blitzing their new neighbors with generators, grow lights, guard dogs and assault rifles.
The board tried in February to pass an ordinance that would reign in this suddenly fast-growing industry. The measure failed to gather a majority vote, and supervisors continued to hear complaints of out-of-control and illegal behavior. So the board tried again, and on May 10, a majority voted for an ordinance to bring cannabis grows under some level of control.
It was passed as an "urgency," or temporary law and will serve until the board can decide on a permanent ordinance, in six months to a year. However, a measure placed on the November ballot by citizen signatures would take the place of the permanent ordinance now being developed by the Planning Department.
Here is an update on the current factors in the county's effort to deal with marijuana farming. All measures described below are centered on commercial cannabis production. Personal and caregiver use remains permitted.
1. The urgency ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors on May 10
This is the current county law. It required anyone who wants to be a legal medical marijuana grower to register with the county Planning Department by June 30. Marijuana grows established after May 10 are illegal and the growers are subject to legal and code enforcement action.
This law coordinates with the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA), which was passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015. It went into effect in January 2016 and will create a statewide bureaucracy to administer and regulate medical cannabis by early 2018. In order to participate, growers must register beforehand with the state or their county, if the county has not banned the substance.
But the law is essentially a short-term fix for the county. By adopting the "urgency" ordinance, the county put registration, law enforcement and code enforcement in place while staffers develop a permanent law for cannabis cultivation and commerce.
By July 15, Calaveras County received $3.7 million from registration fees paid from more than 770 growers. By state law, the money raised from registration can only pay for administration, law enforcement and code enforcement of the listed, registered growers. It is far more than the 200 growers, or $1 million in fees originally, and cautiously, predicted by county officials and cannabis industry representatives.
The Planning Department is moving ahead with registrant application reviews and developing a required environmental impact report for the ordinance. It is anticipated that the final number of approved permits will be something less than 770, but the county won't complete the application reviews for several weeks.
2. Measure D on November's ballot, the proposed, citizen-supported cannabis regulation law
On June 30, the Calaveras County Elections Department confirmed there were enough valid signatures on petitions to place a cannabis regulation measure on the Nov. 8 ballot. At their July 12 meeting, the Board of Supervisors had the option to enact the measure by majority vote or to move it along to the voters. They voted to move the measure to the November general election.
The so-called Stevenot Measure, named for Bardon Stevenot, an initiative author, local wine pioneer and multi-generational county native, includes language from the supervisors' failed effort in February and language from the May 10 temporary ordinance that is now law. It carefully avoids the distinction between medical and recreational cannabis cultivation.
It allows supervisors to amend the law by adding sections to address issues like public health, safety and noise. It adds a $500 county road fee to the expenses of commercial growers.
Passage would make progress toward a permanent county ordinance irrelevant; it would take its place and would make the EIR process unnecessary.
3. Measure C on November's ballot, a tax measure approved by the Board of Supervisors
On July 12, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors approved a tax measure for the November election that could bring between $15 million and $20 million into the Calaveras County general fund, according to estimates by Calaveras Cannabis Alliance executive director Caslin Tomaszewski and by Planning Director Peter Maurer.
The measure to tax commercial cannabis farmers would levy a $2 fee for every square foot of canopy for outdoor growers and $5 fee per square foot of canopy for indoor growers. It also seeks a gross proceeds tax of 7 percent on retail medicinal or legal cannabis storefronts, collectives and dispensaries.
Spending of the tax money would be limited. They would go into the county's general fund and could be used at the discretion of the board.
If passed by the voters, the first of two annual invoices for the tax would go to growers in April 2017. Exact income numbers would await the final count of valid farming permits following the board's May 10 temporary ordinance.
4. A potential ballot measure for a total ban on all commercial cannabis cultivation and commerce. A special election would be held in March 2017
There was a chance that dueling measures over cannabis would be on the November ballot. But the one petition initiative proposing a ban failed to pass muster at the county Elections Department because of a formatting error on the signature sheets.
A new effort, from a group spearheaded by original ban proponent Bill McManus and former county Planning Commissioner David Tunno, was filed with the elections department on July 14. McManus says his group wants to qualify the proposal for a special election in March.
They will need to acquire 3,143 valid signatures, recorded on properly formatted forms, to qualify. An Elections Department spokeswoman said the election could cost the county as much as $20,000 to place a single question on the ballot.
McManus said he hopes to gather 8,000 signatures, not only to meet the Elections Department requirements, but "as a political statement."
If approved by voters, a ban would eliminate both tax and fee income from commercial cannabis farmers, since they would no longer be legal, and replaces whichever county regulation and enforcement law is active. McManus said the ban measure would still permit personal and caregiver production
State Proposition 64, a measure to make recreational cannabis use legal in California
The initiative is designed to legalize marijuana and hemp under state law and enact a 15 percent sales tax as well as a cultivation tax of $9.25 per ounce for flowers and $2.75 per ounce for leaves, with exceptions for qualifying medical marijuana sales and cultivation.
The initiative is also designed to prevent licenses for corporate or large-scale marijuana businesses for five years in order to deter the "unreasonable restraints on competition by creation or maintenance of unlawful monopoly power."
Other provisions relate to rights of employers, driving under the influence, and marijuana business locations. It exempts medical marijuana from some state taxation, and authorized resentencing and destruction of records for prior marijuana convictions.
California voters were given the chance to legalize recreational marijuana in 2010 under Proposition 19, but the measure was defeated.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Five Elements Could Decide Fate Of Calaveras Cannabis
Author: Terry Grillo
Contact: 209.754.3861
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Calaveras Enterprise
