Local marijuana rules taking shape in Sonoma County

The rules could form the basis of the county’s treatment of commercial activities in a future of possible recreational legalization.|

Sonoma County officials are seeking feedback on emerging rules to regulate the commercial medical marijuana industry in rural areas, a regional follow-up to broader state legislation meant to bring those activities out of the shadows.

The wide-reaching regulations will apply in the unincorporated areas outside of city limits, providing a clear framework for commercial growers, processors and others operators on issues like permitted locations and applicable taxation.

The rules could also form the basis of the county’s treatment of commercial activities in a future of possible recreational legalization. California voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana this November.

While commercial cultivation, distribution and other industry enterprises remain prohibited in Petaluma, the city nonetheless played host to a packed event on the subject last week, where attendees joined a cadre of high-ranking county officials to discuss the developing shape of the county policy.

Supervisor David Rabbitt, who represents southern Sonoma County, opened the event by summarizing the county’s goal to balance a range of issues around medical marijuana, including access, economic opportunity, public safety and environmental impacts.

“It’s in many ways a brave new world, and we want to make sure we get our hands around it,” he said.

The effort to establish a regulatory scheme for commercial operators in Sonoma County follows the passage of a trio of bills in 2015 known collectively as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act. With two components authored by North Coast state Senator Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Jim Wood, the legislation created a statewide licensing scheme covering the spectrum from cultivation to sale of medical marijuana.

The legislation still requires operators to obtain licensing from local governments, prompting Sonoma County to launch an effort in February to craft its local application of the rules. Final regulations are expected to go before the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors for a vote in December.

Among this issues under consideration are whether commercial cultivation will be allowed in certain areas with an “over-the-counter” permit, or whether such operations will require a public hearing for approval in some or all areas, said Tony Linegar, the county’s agricultural commissioner and chair of a committee focused on agricultural and environmental issues.

The rules are likely to set some baselines to mitigate environmental impacts like required setbacks from water, he said, similar to what the county already does for operations like vineyards.

Other issues under discussion include the taxation of commercial operators, inspections and enforcement strategies. The county is also working on a study of the economic impact of marijuana, which Tim Ricard of the Sonoma County Economic Development Department said is due in September.

“The whole idea is to rationalize this market,” said Tennis Wick, director of the Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department and head of the committee focused on code enforcement.

County representatives stationed themselves around the room at the Petaluma Community Center to solicit feedback from the dozens of people in attendance, inviting participants to discuss the emerging legislation or to write their thoughts on large sheets of paper.

Among those taking part that day was Judy Heikel, a Petaluma resident who said she intended to raise some practical financial issues.

“Where will these commercial people bank their money?” she said, noting that growers and others have often struggled to access commercial banking services and have thus faced the added security and logistical challenges of a cash-heavy enterprise.

She declined to discuss any personal connection to the industry, but lauded the county for the current effort.

“It has been a long time coming,” Heikel said.

In contrast to the county, Petaluma passed rules in January 2016 that explicitly banned a wide swath of commercial medical marijuana businesses within city limits. The city has banned dispensaries since 2007.

Petaluma’s rules did create a framework that explicitly allowed qualified medical marijuana patients or their caregivers to cultivate a limited number of plants for a patient’s personal use, including three mature plants grown outdoors.

City leaders at that time described the regulations, which were two years in the making, as aiming to balance access for patients with neighborhood impacts like odor and crime. Yet Heikel said she felt the pendulum in Petaluma swung too far toward appeasing residents who complained of odors from a minority of bad actors.

“I’m a vegetarian, and the smell of barbecue offends me. But it’s a community,” she said.

Others were also quick to praise the county for the public outreach at this stage in the process, including Linda Stokely, a medical marijuana patient living in Petaluma who was on hand for the meeting and has followed the recent recent policy changes.

“Ten years ago, if you told be (Supervisor) Rabbitt would be here talking in a sane way about medical marijuana, I would have said, ‘Really?’”

The gathering at the Petaluma Community Center was one of five scheduled for each of the county’s supervisorial districts. The county planning commission is expected to review the rules during a public hearing in September, with a first hearing by the Board of Supervisors expected in November.

The next town hall meeting, hosted by Supervisor Shirlee Zane, is scheduled for today at 5:30 p.m at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa. It is followed by Supervisor James Gore’s Aug. 2 meeting at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts, starting at 6 p.m.

The county is also taking feedback through an online survey and via email, both accessible at sonomacounty.ca.gov/marijuana.

(Contact Eric Gneckow at eric.gneckow@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @Eric_Reports.)

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