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The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors forwarded a set of rules to control the cultivation of medical marijuana in the unincorporated areas on Tuesday. The draft ordinance, which will return to the board in six months for further review, separates cultivation of marijuana for personal use from commercial cultivation for the first time. For medical marijuana patients or designated primary caregivers who grow cannabis for their own personal use at home, the amount of marijuana cultivated cannot exceed 100 square feet of total garden canopy, which cannot be visible from any public-right-of-way.
A proposed rule to limit the amount of wattage for indoor grows to 1,200 watts was removed after cannabis growers at the public hearing on Tuesday voiced opposition, noting the wattage would not be enough to cover 100 square feet. As a compromise, wattage usage more than 1,200 watts would require inspection from a licensed contractor. To address the risk of fire, the ordinance includes the prohibition of flammable liquids in cultivation practices.
The ordinance, which Supervisor John Leopold said was "close to the cutting edge" but would most likely need to be "recalibrated" over time, addresses commercial cultivation of medical marijuana for the first time. Leopold, who consulted with traditional agriculture groups including the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and the county agriculture commissioner in developing his recommendations, said using agriculture zoning designations as a "template" when developing the ordinance was the right way to go.
To help keep grows from entering residential areas, commercial cultivation is limited to zones designated as SU (Special Use), TP (Timber Production), CA (Commercial Agriculture), A (Agriculture), AP (Agriculture Preserve) or RA (Residential Agriculture) by the county zoning ordinance and outside of the urban area defined by the Urban Services and Rural Services Lines. Commercial medical marijuana growers have to ensure their crop is grown collectively or cooperatively for its members or a Santa Cruz County medical marijuana business and is used for medical purposes only.
The ordinance also includes rules on advertising to keep a market for spaces for cultivation from flourishing in the county, a 600-foot buffer from schools and parks and language that requires cultivators adhere to county policies on environmental protection, resource conservation and water use. The proposed ordinance also sets new, graded canopy and setback limits depending on parcel size.
For a parcel in size between one acre and five, a garden canopy is limited to 1,000 square feet, with a setback of 100 feet from any habitable structure on an adjacent parcel. A parcel greater than five acres and less than 10 acres in size is limited to a garden canopy of 2,000 square feet, with a setback of 200 feet, while parcels greater than 10 acres would be limited to a garden canopy of 3,000 square feet with a required setback of 300 feet. Yet, regardless of parcel size, a limit of 99 plants per parcel is included in the ordinance. The draft ordinance passed by a vote of 4-1, with District 2 Supervisor Zach Friend offering the sole dissenting vote. The ordinance will return to the board for further consideration in six months.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Register-pajaronian.com
Author: Roseann Hernandez
Contact: Register-Pajaronian
Website: Register-Pajaronian County board moves forward on marijuana cultivation rules
A proposed rule to limit the amount of wattage for indoor grows to 1,200 watts was removed after cannabis growers at the public hearing on Tuesday voiced opposition, noting the wattage would not be enough to cover 100 square feet. As a compromise, wattage usage more than 1,200 watts would require inspection from a licensed contractor. To address the risk of fire, the ordinance includes the prohibition of flammable liquids in cultivation practices.
The ordinance, which Supervisor John Leopold said was "close to the cutting edge" but would most likely need to be "recalibrated" over time, addresses commercial cultivation of medical marijuana for the first time. Leopold, who consulted with traditional agriculture groups including the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau and the county agriculture commissioner in developing his recommendations, said using agriculture zoning designations as a "template" when developing the ordinance was the right way to go.
To help keep grows from entering residential areas, commercial cultivation is limited to zones designated as SU (Special Use), TP (Timber Production), CA (Commercial Agriculture), A (Agriculture), AP (Agriculture Preserve) or RA (Residential Agriculture) by the county zoning ordinance and outside of the urban area defined by the Urban Services and Rural Services Lines. Commercial medical marijuana growers have to ensure their crop is grown collectively or cooperatively for its members or a Santa Cruz County medical marijuana business and is used for medical purposes only.
The ordinance also includes rules on advertising to keep a market for spaces for cultivation from flourishing in the county, a 600-foot buffer from schools and parks and language that requires cultivators adhere to county policies on environmental protection, resource conservation and water use. The proposed ordinance also sets new, graded canopy and setback limits depending on parcel size.
For a parcel in size between one acre and five, a garden canopy is limited to 1,000 square feet, with a setback of 100 feet from any habitable structure on an adjacent parcel. A parcel greater than five acres and less than 10 acres in size is limited to a garden canopy of 2,000 square feet, with a setback of 200 feet, while parcels greater than 10 acres would be limited to a garden canopy of 3,000 square feet with a required setback of 300 feet. Yet, regardless of parcel size, a limit of 99 plants per parcel is included in the ordinance. The draft ordinance passed by a vote of 4-1, with District 2 Supervisor Zach Friend offering the sole dissenting vote. The ordinance will return to the board for further consideration in six months.
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Register-pajaronian.com
Author: Roseann Hernandez
Contact: Register-Pajaronian
Website: Register-Pajaronian County board moves forward on marijuana cultivation rules
