NEWS Calaveras County, California

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The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors late Tuesday night voted 4-1 to approve a long-sought urgency ordinance that regulates marijuana cultivation and commerce.

The lone no-vote was cast by District 3 Supervisor Michael Oliveira.

“I’m concerned with the enforcement component; I want immediate protection for people and I voted no and will wait until we work on the permanent version to see how this is has been addressed,” he said.

The board vote met state law that requires a four-fifths tally to pass an urgency ordinance. The board could not muster four votes in favor of a similar urgency ordinance at the April 12 meeting and that measure failed.

Sheriff Rick DiBasilio, whose afternoon testimony on the urgency ordinance began with a call for an outright ban and ended with support for the proposal, said after the vote, “Can I work with this? I have no choice; it’s my job.” He paused and added, “Yes, I can work with this.”

Board consideration for the urgency ordinance began at 1:30 p.m. and the vote was cast nine hours later, at 10:30 p.m. The board chambers, approved for less than 90 seated people, quickly filled and people were standing along the wall. Board Chairman Cliff Edson cleared the room of those not seated. They moved into the already-packed lobby and squeezed into the crowd standing around a video monitor displaying the meeting.

Concerns raised during hours of testimony at the April 12 meeting prompted a board subcommittee made up of Chairman Cliff Edson and Supervisor Debbie Ponte to work with county staff members to revise the urgency ordinance.

During more than four hours of testimony, 33 people spoke in favor of the urgency ordinance and only five opposed it.

Throughout the afternoon, the board heard comments and suggestions for changes to the ordinance language from District Attorney Barbara Yook, Sheriff DiBasilio and sheriff Capt. Jim Macedo.

Supervisors Debbie Ponte, Michael Oliveira and Steve Kearny went through the proposed changes one at a time and supervisors Chris Wright and Edson said any concerns they had were addressed by the three who spoke before them.

Deputy County Council Julie Moss and County Counsel Megan Stedtfeld then took nearly an hour to revise the ordinance language to present it to the board.

The ordinance sets a moratorium on new marijuana farms effective Tuesday, rather than the originally proposed Feb. 16, and requires commercial growers to pay a $5,000 fee to register their operations. That fee, in turn, will fund enforcement efforts including new sheriff deputies who, presumably, will help eradicate growers who don’t comply with the rules.

The urgency ordinance will be in effect until the county government can adopt a permanent regulation for marijuana production. That is expected to take six months to a year because of environmental studies that must be conducted first.

The urgency ordinance creates a registration process so cannabis cultivators can participate in the coming state program for commercial growers. The urgency ordinance also sets fees for personal use and caregiver gardens and establishes standards for cultivation sites and for public health and safety. It allows those who have made “substantial” investments by Tuesday to continue production and otherwise halts further expansion of the industry until a permanent ordinance is adopted.

Completed registration is required by June 30, according the proposed law, and garden sites have to be in zones where medical cannabis cultivation is permitted.

The California Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act became law on Jan. 1. It requires that in order to get a state license for medical marijuana cultivation and commerce, growers must comply with both state and local laws.

The registration fees will be $100 for personal-use growers and $200 for caregivers.

The ordinance requires permanent dwellings on properties with cannabis gardens and generally bans camping on marijuana farms, although there is an exemption to allow people in or near the Butte Fire burn area to apply for temporary permits to live in recreational vehicles. Such recreational vehicles are required to have approved water, sewer and power connections.

 

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Marijuana boom brought change, challenges



Editor's Note
On ‘From the Ashes’ This is the last in a series of stories detailing how Calaveras County is healing from the devastation of the Butte Fire, which roared through the region in September, 2015.


Last year, Trevor Wittke had to take out a loan in order to apply for the county’s marijuana cultivation program.

He lost his entire crop the year prior to the Butte Fire. It made paying the fees, $5,000 to the county and $10,000 to the water board among others, difficult to do. Normally, that would be the amount many would spend per year on soil and other cannabis gardening amenities.

Wittke, with all his struggles, was one of the lucky ones. The fire parted at a hill on his property and joined again beyond his home, saving the structure.

Hundreds, many of them cannabis cultivators, were not spared from the 2015 blaze. It affected not only their ability to apply for the marijuana program, but also to maintain any sense of normalcy. A number are still homeless while awaiting damage settlements from the Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

While the fire brought disruption to some growers, it was an opportunity for others, especially in Supervisor District 2 area that includes Mountain Ranch, Mokelumne Hill and West Point areas. Cultivators planted in the charred landscape after marijuana farming was allowed, under regulation, in May of 2016.

The land became desirable, said Prapanna Smith, a registered cultivator in the county. Already known as one of the prime cannabis growing locations in the world, land previously overlooked became favorable after the Butte Fire cleared away much of the shady overgrowth.

Land was so sought after, Wittke said real estate was selling for prices that far exceeded the asking price.

The “Green Rush,” as it was called, gave way to more than 740 applicants for the county’s cannabis program. With it came about $3.7 million in application fees and another $8 million a year later from the first installment of a cannabis tax approved by voters in 2016.

Not all that have applied have been permitted. Recent numbers say 220 have been denied. Most are from outside the area and were unable to meet the county requirements before the county’s window of opportunity closed the following May when county supervisors passed an urgency ordinance that imposed a moratorium.

Despite the financial beneficiaries, Wittke speculated cannabis cultivation may not have gotten the go ahead from county supervisors had it not have been for the fire.

“A lot of us were pretty financially destitute after the fire,” Wittke said. “It has a big effect on people’s ability to come into compliance and actually register. There were some farms out there that didn’t register because they were unable to from the fire.”

Many were victimized by the Butte Fire around the same time supervisors were asked to draft local policy per the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act in 2015. Prohibiting cannabis cultivation would have eliminated an economic recovery engine from the area that may have needed it most, Wittke said.

Cannabis farming has had a presence in Calaveras since the 1970s, Wittke said. It began as a means for people to make money. People would grow one crop during their younger years, then leave it behind and live normal lives.

As decades passed, the industry transformed. Years after Proposition 215 passed in the late 1990s, it was discovered farmers could medicinally grow under 99 plants without severe penalty. Anything over the amount would draw the attention of the federal government, which could impose a 5-year prison sentence.

By the mid-2000s, the underground cannabis cultivating scene was ingrained deep within District 2. In the midst of the housing crisis in 2008, farmers were able to provide enough business to the local hardware store in Mountain Ranch to prevent it from going out of business at a time when nobody was building a house, Wittke said.

But the Green Rush may be in retreat. People stopped buying land six months after the moratorium, said Charlene Winkler, owner of the San Andreas based Western Realty.

“It is because of the smell,” Winkler said. “And people associate it (marijuana farming) with crime.”

Prices are similar to values seen in the area a decade ago, Winkler said. Land that would have sold for $200,000 for five acres now sell for $45,000 or less. Used to sell for $40,000 per acre may now fetch roughly $10,000. It is because people from outside the area do not want to relocate and be around marijuana, she said.

Winkler said that the fire ultimately decreased market values by leaving behind thousands of dead, unsightly trees. Homebuyers do not want to move to a property that has a significant amount of charred trunks remaining.

Seemingly unaffected by the marijuana farms are larger properties where homeowners can settle in deep within their land and isolate themselves. Smaller lots, closer to grows, took the biggest hit.

What is not known is how much longer cannabis cultivators may be allowed to continue. Before the end of next month, a ban is expected to reach Calaveras supervisors for approval.

Many cannabis farmers have threatened legal action in the event of a ban less than a year after it was permitted by county leadership. Others have said they plan to pack up and leave to find another place that will allow them to grow under the protection of the law.

The smoke has long settled from the Butte Fire devastation in Calaveras County. Yet in terms of marijuana, the political and economic future remains opaque.