[420 Girl]

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to convene at 10 a.m. Tuesday to vote whether to extend its ban on marijuana operations and whether to implement new fees for Tehama County development, with the fees going toward air quality improvement projects.

Marijuana ban

The ordinance, drafted by County Counsel Arthur Wylene, could extend the county ban for 10 months and 15 days.

In county documents, Wylene cites evolving state medical marijuana law as justification, as well as the pending case of Qualified Patients Assoc. v. City of Anaheim, which is expected to offer some clarity on the legality of permanent dispensary bans, sometime in the next two months.

The board previously agreed to a 45-day ban on medical marijuana outfits in the unincorporated county on the basis that board members needed more time to study the matter.

Some board members have said there is a need for zoning laws for medical marijuana operations similar to laws in place for pharmacies, and that the ban, being temporary, could allow them to draft such regulations with the caveat that they could also come back and ban dispensaries altogether.

Dispensaries, collectives and various non-profit medical cannabis operations have been cropping up faster in the north state than governments can set policies in place, including Tehama Herbal Collective in Corning and Red Bluff Patient Collective just outside city limits.

Local governments, including Corning and the county of Tehama, have responded by issuing retroactive bans on dispensaries and fighting them over zoning laws, a strategy some medical marijuana advocates say is in violation of their state rights under Prop. 215.

In the case of Red Bluff Patient Collective, Sheriff Clay Parker has told the Daily News he will cite the operation daily if it continues to operate.

Parker maintains any operation offering marijuana for sale, regardless of its non-profit status or whether it sells marijuana to people with doctor recommendations, is not permitted by Prop. 215.

Air fees

The board, convening as the Air Pollution Control District, is slated to vote on a series of air quality mitigation fees proposed by Air Pollution Control Director Alan Abbs.

The fees range from 21 cents a square foot for industrial developments to $429 per single family dwelling and would only apply to new construction.

Transportation is one of the primary sources of more ozone-creating chemicals Tehama County, Abbs has said. These, along with particulate matter, are responsible for respiratory illness and damage agriculture across the state.

County businesses and farms could face stricter regulation if Environmental Protection Agency standards tighten, as they are expected to do, Abbs said. With the county already on the edge of being in non-compliance for its air quality, improving air quality now could protect local industry in the future.

Abbs has said his goal is not so much to deter development as to reroute the fees into a fund used to back air quality mitigation projects submitted by the public, which could include everything from the installation of bike paths to paying for county industry to switch from diesel to electric motors. Diesel motors release lungdamaging particulate matter into the air.

The board will have the option of putting the fees in place for a year to see if they work, or ask Abbs to rewrite the new rules.

Read more online

Complete copies of both proposed ordinances are available online at co.tehama.ca.us. More information is available by calling 527-4655. The supervisors meet at at 727 Oak St. in Red Bluff. The meeting is open to the public.


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