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Planning commission to begin exploring marijuana ordinance

Wednesday the public will have a chance to give input

4-12-2005 | DAVID EDWARDS | The Daily Journal

Let the discussion begin.

The Ukiah Planning Commission will conduct a combination workshop and public hearing Wednesday about the city's groundbreaking marijuana ordinance.

It appears the U.S. Supreme Court is in no hurry to steal the spotlight from Ukiah, either. Justices have yet to render a decision in a Bay Area pot case, Raich v. Ashcroft, that could affect the ordinance, depending on the court's ruling.

So absent a ruling, planning commissioners will take the community's pulse on several key provisions of the ordinance. City Attorney David Rapport, who wrote the ordinance, will attend and join in the discussion.

The current text would limit growers in residential areas to six plants. In addition, the property owner must qualify as a medical-marijuana patient, and the plants must be in a secure indoor location.

Growers who choose a commercial zone could cultivate up to 12 immature and six mature plants. They too would be restricted to growing indoors.

According to the city planning staff's report to commissioners, the purpose of Wednesday's session is "to review the draft ordinance, discuss the issues, gather information, and develop direction for staff."

City planners don't anticipate an immediate recommendation from the Planning Commission to the City Council, the report states. Staff has suggested the commissioners hold the workshop and hearing, issue directives to staff, and address the ordinance again at the April 27 meeting.

The staff report lists eight issues for discussion, including the possibility of letting outdoor marijuana cultivation continue, odor complaints, and limitations on where marijuana may be grown within the city limits.

"A challenging discussion is whether ... indoor growing would deter theft attempts or entice potentially more violent home-invasion theft attempts," the staff report states.

Dane Wilkins, executive director of the local chapter of the National Organizaton for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, has discussed the ordinance with city officials. He said their collaboration has produced no changes in the ordinance so far.

The staff report mentions several points Wilkins has asked the city to consider, though.

"The primary concern is forcing' the cultivation of marijuana indoors," the report notes, "which NORML believes would (increase electricity usage), create unhealthy indoor environments, and create fire-safety issues."

Local growers who have spoken with The Ukiah Daily Journal shared contradictory opinions as to whether those concerns are justified. However, Bernie Ziemianek, the public utilities director in Ukiah, volunteered some anecdotal evidence supporting the fire-safety concerns.

A few months ago, Ziemianek read about a house in San Francisco that was destroyed by fire. An indoor pot grow there strained the electrical system, the wiring overheated, and the resulting conflagration gutted the home.

The Planning Commission will meet Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers at the Ukiah Civic Center. The workshop and public hearing on the marijuana ordinance is the first substantive item on the agenda. For more information, call City Clerk Marie Ulvila at 463-6217.

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