By Tanya Canino
Voters in Nevada County, which includes Truckee, will decide Nov. 4 whether to repeal the county’s current medical marijuana cultivation ordinance and replace it with Measure S, an initiative that reduces or eliminates many restrictions of the current ordinance.
The initiative, put on the ballot through a petition drive by Americans for Safe Access, only affects unincorporated areas of Nevada County.
“Measure S would loosen up some of the controls that were put in place in 2012,” said Nevada County Supervisor Richard Anderson, who represents Truckee.
The current ordinance was passed two years ago to reduce the impacts of marijuana cultivation on neighborhoods in the county. It restricts the size of indoor and outdoor grows and how close those grows can be located to schools, parks, churches, youth facilities, and bus stops. Regulations concern potential noise, dust, traffic, odor, smoke, fencing and storage of hazardous materials, as well as enforcement measures for public nuisance or illegal activity.
“The purpose of the ordinance was to reduce the source of impacts on neighborhoods,” Anderson said.
However, medical marijuana proponents say the restrictions inhibit the ability of patients to grow their own medicine, or collectives to cultivate medical marijuana for patients who are unable to grow their own.
“By definition, these people have something going on. Most patients cannot grow their own. It’s hard, it’s expensive, and it would have to be the right time of the year,” said Jeff Naughton, the organizing member of Tahoe Meds, a collective based in Truckee, which has around 350 local members and 1,700 statewide members.
CHANGING RESTRICTIONS
Measure S is meant to “create clear guidelines for the cultivation, distribution, transportation, storage, and use practices for medical marijuana in unincorporated areas of Nevada County,” according to the measure language.
Major changes in the measure include increasing the maximum area allowed for indoor cultivation, eliminating square footage limitations, using plant counts to establish outdoor cultivation limits, and allowing grows in current prohibited zones. The Measure S initiative also changes the current ordinance by reducing setbacks from 1,000 feet to 600 feet between cultivation areas and schools, churches, parks, youth facilities and bus stops, and changing the required distances from adjacent properties. It amends regulations on fencing and enforcement of neighborhood controls on odor, noise, traffic, etc.
Naughton says modifying some of the restrictions makes sense. Current law requires a patient to post an outside notice indicating that medical marijuana is being grown.
“That’s a big red flag for a patient, saying ‘Come and rob me’,” Naughton said.
He also cited the need to decrease the distance from a bus stop from 1,000 feet to 600 feet, noting there are many defunct bus stops currently being counted. Allowing grows to occur in mobile home parks will enable more low-income patients to be able to grow their own medical marijuana, Naughton said.
A LAND USE ISSUE
Some see Measure S as an issue of fair access to grow medical marijuana; others consider it only a land use issue.
The Nevada County Board of Realtors officially opposes Measure S. The Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors has not taken a stance on the measure, according to John Falk, the organization’s legislative analyst and government and public affairs consultant.
However, the Realtor association has been grappling with the tension between state and federal law for years, Falk said.
Federal law considers marijuana as an illegal substance, so a home that houses a marijuana crop could potentially be seized by the feds. Even if federal law is not enforced, it still leaves the property owner in a tenuous position.
“It’s contradictory and confusing, and that contradiction and confusion lands right on the doorstep of the property owner trying to obey county, state, and national laws,” said Falk, who is running for a seat on the Tahoe Forest Hospital District board.
Measure S could make things more confusing because it removes the current requirement that tenants must obtain notarized consent from a landlord if they are growing medical marijuana, he said. Federal law states that the property owner has an obligation to know what’s happening on a property; this county measure would take that away.
“Would the property owner be culpable? That’s why this whole thing is an incredible mess,” Falk said.
OTHER ARGUMENTS
Others cite Measure S as an economic issue. A letter sent to local businesses from the Nevada County Merchant’s Association for Measure S states, “some conservative estimates suggest the local cannabis industry may bring in a half a billion dollars to our local economy.”
Others worry Measure S will attract more growers for commercial operations and increase crime in the county.
Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal issued a press release earlier this fall stating that if Measure S is passed, it would “dramatically change our community as we know it and our quality of life. While supporters of Measure S see the ballot measure as a ‘sensible solution,’ the truth of the matter is it will radically increase the volume of marijuana grown in our county and significantly increase the nuisance issues associated with growing marijuana,” Royal wrote.
Four of the five county supervisors, including Anderson, have publicly opposed the measure.
“I support the county’s current ordinance,” Anderson said, adding that he was not on the board when the ordinance passed in 2012.
However, he noted that parts of the ordinance might be worth revisiting, such as the requirement to grow on level land.
“This is a hilly county. Therefore, is that a reasonable part of the ordinance,” Anderson asked.
Measure S supporters say they have been unable to convince supervisors to make changes to the ordinance, which is why they moved to the initiative process.
If voters approve Measure S on Nov. 4, changes to it can only be made through additional voter initiatives.
While the measure does not directly impact Truckee voters, Naughton said he believes “a mind-shift” would be good for the community.
“Every little step forward helps [patients] feel like someone trying to get well rather than a criminal,” he said.
Yet, access for patients comes head-to-head with neighborhoods struggling with the impacts of cultivation areas. Anderson said the initial ordinance was to help neighbors overwhelmed by the smell of marijuana plants.
“This is a debate that pertains to Western Nevada County,” Anderson said. “[However], it’s on the ballot, so Truckee voters should know about it.”
