Amador County – Amador County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday moved forward with an urgency ordinance to address and regulate medical marijuana growing operations in the county.

Supervisors unanimously directed staff to bring back a draft ordinance for temporary adoption on an urgency basis, banning all outdoor medical marijuana cultivation. It also directed the formation of an ad hoc committee to start fleshing out the development of a long-term ordinance for regulating medical marijuana cultivation in the county.

County Planner Susan Grijalva said complaints include odor, increased traffic, and camping, and culminated with murder charges for a recent fatal shooting of a man guarding a medical pot grow in Carbondale. She said the Supervisor Land Use Committee discussed creating an ad hoc committee if the board does move forward.

Undersheriff Jim Wegner said his preference, in looking at other ordinances, was to look at all of them and take what they want.

The board discussed establishing regulations, or directing staff to create an ordinance which could open the county to litigation “because medical marijuana is sanctioned by state law,” said County Counsel Greg Gillott. He said “federal law would trump” but California law decriminalizes medical weed under state law. There is still a federal prohibition and the state could make growing illegal, but the state has chosen not to, so “it is technically legal.”

Gillott said Long Beach law with elaborate fees and permits was ruled unconstitutional, and “local agencies are in this weird middle ground on what to do.”

Forster said the committee discussed banning cultivation, and Wegner said Amador would be the first county to make that ban, and could face “a very expensive legal battle.”

Robert Allen, Sutter Creek, said banning the practice would affect small growers and “make a whole class of outlaws who are going to flaunt the law some more.” Allen urged rescheduling marijuana from a class 1 drug to another, to “take the feds out of it.”

Forster said county law does not cover setbacks or set standards for where people can grow, and people are being affected by legal grows.

Supervisor Chairman John Plasse said his concern was that “the time frame to draft the perfect ordinance just exacerbates problems we are encountering for that much longer.” He asked if they could use an urgency ordinance to “nip this thing in the bud,” and then spend the time to craft the ordinance that we feel is best suited to the local community.”

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.