Humboldt supervisors extend marijuana dispensary moratorium. discuss future outdoor medical marijuana growing ordinance

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend a temporary moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries for an additional 10 months and 15 days. The supervisors also added language to the ordinance that is meant to protect existing dispensaries from closure.
Assistant County Counsel Carolyn Ruth said there are currently three medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the county. The Humboldt County Collective has a conditional use permit with no time limit, Redwood Legacy LLC has a two-year permit and the Hummingbird Healing Center has a one-year permit. Ruth said the moratorium's extension will affect the Hummingbird Healing Center.

”Their permit would expire during the moratorium,” Ruth said.
Fifth District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg said he was concerned that the initial moratorium passed on Dec. 13 didn't allow dispensaries to reapply for their permits.
”There are really, really sick people who use this to make them feel
better,” Sundberg said.
Third District Supervisor Mark Lovelace said those dispensaries already in business shouldn't be penalized by the moratorium.
”It would be unfair to allow the clock to run out on them,” Lovelace said.
The board-added language states that the three established dispensaries have the right to apply for a new conditional use permit if their permit expires during the moratorium. The board specified that
the county Planning Commission shouldn't take the moratorium into consideration when reviewing a permit for an already existing dispensary. Humboldt County Counsel Wendy Chaitin said this doesn't mean that the Planning Commission is obligated to approve a dispensary's request for an updated permit.
Staff with the county counsel's office said the moratorium is the safest legal course of action in an atmosphere where it's still unclear whether cities and counties can regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. Deputy County Counsel Davina Smith said all eyes are now on the California Supreme Court, which agreed last week to review whether federal law pre-empts local jurisdictions.
”They plan to deliver some direction,” Smith said.
Hummingbird Healing Center board of directors member Carla Ritter was one of five speakers against the moratorium. She said three-quarters of their patients don't grow their own medical marijuana and would be without a supplier if the dispensary closed.
”What would you do if you were crippled by arthritis?” Ritter asked. “We are here to beg you to continue safe access to our patients.”
Alison Sterling Nichols, executive director of the Humboldt Growers Association and the Emerald Growers Association, said the board shouldn't enact a moratorium while the Supreme Court is reviewing the issue.
”Proposition 215 was passed 15 years ago, and another year is going to fly by with this,” Sterling Nichols said.
Smith said a decision is expected within the next 12 to 18 months. In the meantime, she said, the county is vulnerable to legal action.
Humboldt County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes said the county is working to make progress on an ordinance that would govern outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana for personal use. Smith-Hanes said the board directed county staff to create an ordinance similar to one used in Mendocino County, until it was revoked Tuesday under pressure from the federal government. He said both Mendocino and Humboldt counties are now looking at a registration-based ordinance, similar to one used in Tehama County.
”It seems like the Tehama County ordinance would stand up to legal scrutiny,” Smith-Hanes said.
Smith-Hanes said county staff are ready to draft some legal language for the proposed ordinance, which would likely come before the board in March for public comment and again in May for decisions about fees and other details. Supervisors directed county staff to try and expedite the process and, at Sundberg's request, to see if there are interim measures that could be put in place to keep outdoor grows from becoming a public nuisance.  
First District Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith said county staff need to meet with the county's budget sub-committee and sheriff's office to discuss budget limitations and enforcement. Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey said he needs to know whether this ordinance is going to be mainly enforced by the sheriff's office or code enforcement department as it will affect his budget and staffing.

 Megan Hansen/Times-Standard