de Val, -- behalf
of MMAB --
Proposes Medical Marijuana Zoning in General Plan
Web Posted November 20, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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FORMER MENDOCINO COUNTY SUPERVISOR NORMAN DE VALL URGES SUPERVISORS TO INCLUDE
MEDICAL CANNABIS REGULATION IN THE 2008 GENERAL PLAN UPDATE
Former 5th District Mendocino County Supervisor (1979-1995) Norman de Vall
has submitted comments urging the Supervisors to include medical cannabis
regulation in the 2008 General Plan Update. According to de Vall, "This is
the first proposal in the state for a County to regulate medical cannabis
through Land Use requirements, as a means to generate needed income for the
County."
Norman de Vall & Associates, Planning & Land Use Consultants, submitted
the proposal to Chairman Wattenburger and the Board of Supervisors' Planning
Team on behalf of the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board (MMMAB).
The MMMAB "urges the Supervisors to pass reasonable Land Use regulations
to enhance patient access to medical marijuana as well as to benefit the
County financially."
The MMMAB believes that normalizing legitimate growing of medical marijuana
for the benefit not only of patient-growers, collectives and cooperatives,
but for the County as well, is overdue and it is time for the Board of Supervisors
to begin to substantially engage in the process. There is a window of opportunity
for them to do so by support of the suggested plan for Medical Marijuana
normalization through inclusion in the General Plan Update.
Now that the Attorney General has issued legal guidelines and the courts
are issuing theirs, it is time to begin taking the necessary steps to adopt
an economic model allowing the County to regulate medical cannabis production,
for the express purpose of benefiting and sustaining the county economically.
The question is: Where and How can legitimate growers of medical marijuana
be enabled to serve patient-growers, collectives and cooperatives, as well
as the County?
The answer put forward by de Vall & Associates and the MMMAB is through
specific land use designations, either as a Use by Right (i.e., Ministerial
with no permit required) or through a Minor or Major Use Permit for "collective
cooperative cultivation projects" (SB 420) or by any other appropriate land
use designation that fulfills the regulation purpose of the legislation.
Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board
PO Box 2555
Mendocino, CA 95460
707-964-9377
<http://www.mmmab.net/>
Press Contact: Norman de Vall (707) 877-3551 or 357-5555 <mailto:ndevall@mcn.org>
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Norman L. de Vall & Assoc.
Planning and Land Use Consultants
P.O. Box 3
Elk, California 95432
(707) 877-3551 877-1861 357-5555
<mailto:ndevall@mcn.org>
November 15, 2008
The Honorable Jim Wattenberger, Chair
and Members Board of Supervisors
Mendocino County
501 Low Gap Road
Ukiah, California 95482
(707) 463-4221 463-4245
re: General Plan Update, Regulation
of Medical Marijuana
Dear Chairman Wattenburger and Members of the Board
We have been retained by the Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board to
present to you recommendations for the regulated, controlled and publicly
beneficial production of Medical Marijuana in Mendocino County, as authorized
under California Health and Safety Codes 11362.5 et seq.
There is a window of economic opportunity the county would be wise to pursue
at this juncture in time, in light of imminent California Supreme Court rulings
and the California Attorney General issuing medical marijuana guidelines
for Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 420, especially regarding collectives
and cooperatives.
We do not believe that any one ordinance can address all of the issues surrounding
this new economic opportunity for Mendocino County. However, with the fortuitous
occasion of the General Plan Update, we can establish and limit the land
use types on which medical marijuana can be produced and what conditions
its production must meet.
We appreciate that your Board and its Standing Committees have struggled
long and hard to bring about reasonable responsible regulation of medical
marijuana production. While the efforts have been commendable, the results
have been limited, controversial, litigious and unpopular.
The question is: Where and How can the legitimate growing of medical marijuana
be enabled to serve patient-growers, collectives and cooperatives, as well
as the County?
Years ago when the Board of Supervisors was confronted with another significant
land use issue, resolution was found during the update process of the General
Plan. The issue was the reality that hundreds (or more) owner-builders had
constructed their homes without benefit of building permits. Through the
Board's Clean Slate program and the new Intent Section of the County General
Plan, those structures were then recognized by the County. (Attached please
see a brief history of the 1960-1990 planning process).
The Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board believes that the two challenges--owner-builders
and providing medical marijuana--are remarkably similar. It was a General
Plan change that broke the intractable impasse between the County and the
owner-builder community. Today's Board has the opportunity to permit and
regulate what is allowed by State law but is not recognized to date by the
County.
The owner-builder issue was greatly influenced by a published court decision
(City of Santa Barbara v Mary Adamson, 1982). The current situation regarding
medical cannabis guidelines (P v Kelly and P v Phomphakdy, 2008) is now under
review by the State Supreme Court with sections of H&S Code 11362.7 at
the heart of the discussion.
With that successful history in mind, we now recommend that the Board begin
regulating the legal production of medical cannabis under specific land use
designations with either a Use by Right (i.e., Ministerial with no permit
required) or by approval of a Minor or Major Use Permit for "collective cooperative
cultivation projects" (SB 420) or by any other appropriate land use designation
that fulfills the regulation purpose of the legislation.
In addition we suggest that the number of Medical Marijuana Use Permits (MMUP)
be initially limited and gradually adjusted as the permit process evolves:
1) to encourage responsible production and 2) to reduce control and enforcement
issues (similar to how the number of taxi cabs is limited in urban areas).
Now that the Attorney General has issued legal guidelines and the courts
are issuing theirs, it is time to begin taking the necessary steps to adopt
an economic model allowing the County to regulate medical cannabis production,
for the express purpose of benefiting and sustaining the county economically
for the forseeable future.
I look forward to further discussions with your Board on this issue.
Sincerely,
Norman L. de Vall
Agent on behalf of Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board
cc: Sheriff Tom Allman
District Attorney Meredith Lintott
Presiding Superior Court Judge Cindy Mayfield
Congressman Mike Thompson
Assembly Member Patty Berg
Assembly Member Wesley Chesbro
State Senator Patricia Wiggins
Governors’ Office of Planning and Research
Mendocino Medical Marijuana Advisory Board
MMMAB Counsel Keith Faulder
All Media