At last night’s meeting of the Yucca Valley Town Council, the council heard from dozens of people who were nearly unanimous in their support of a town ordinance prohibiting commercial marijuana businesses in the town. Managing editor Tami Roleff says council members voted to approve the new ordinance…
“Medical marijuana comes in many forms: oils, salves, ingested pills…. It’s a miracle drug when it comes to reducing pain. Recreational [marijuana] is something different, and as long as you do it at home and to want to be high, great, that’s great, but using it in public is something that’s very disturbing.”
Council member Bob Leone became very emotional as he talked about the benefits of medical marijuana, but as he and many others pointed out, that was not the issue at last night’s meeting of the Yucca Valley Town Council.
Even Jason Elsasser, who once ran a medical marijuana dispensary in the town, and was behind Measure X, to allow two medical marijuana dispensaries in town limits, spoke in favor of the ordinance that would prohibit commercial uses of recreational marijuana.
“I am in favor of keeping ordinance as it is. If I lived in a nice neighborhood and someone started growing next to me, and I had to smell marijuana when I was having dinner with my family, I wouldn’t be that happy about it.”
And council member Robert Lombardo said marijuana laws were certain to change.
“There’s too much uncertainty in the state and federal laws. I think that this is definitely not the time to be considering to make pot shops in town.”
The council tweaked the title of the ordinance, changing “prohibiting” personal marijuana uses to “regulating” it, because residents can still grow up to six plants in their home, assuming they apply for a permit to do so.
The Yucca Valley ordinance will prohibit marijuana dispensaries, commercial marijuana cultivation, deliveries, testing, and distribution.
The council tweaked the title of the ordinance, changing “prohibiting” personal marijuana uses to “regulating” it, because residents can still grow up to six plants in their home, assuming they apply for a permit to do so.
To apply for a permit, residents must complete an application form, a site plan of the property, scaled diagram of the floor plan of the home or structure where the marijuana will be grown, and an application fee (to be set by the town council), along with measures to comply with odor control, security, electrical, and a list of equipment used for cultivation. The town has 30 days to review the application. Permits are valid for 1 year and applications with all the same documentation (except the cultivation plan) must be submitted annually.
Permits can be revoked at any time. Appeals are made to the town manager, and then to the courts.
Personal cultivation must be inside a fully enclosed structure, not visible from any neighboring property, no odors detected from neighboring properties, electrical use shall not exceed the maximum rating of the electrical panel, and the structure must remain a residence with functioning cooking, sleeping, and sanitation facilities.
When town staff was questioned on the need for a permit, council members were told a permit would give law enforcement and code enforcement teeth to enforce the ordinance.
