City bans outdoor pot cultivation
California voters may have passed Prop. 64 last November, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, but don’t count on growing a stash in any Clayton backyard. Marijuana plants visible from public areas create an attractive nuisance for kids and invite crime, according to a staff report.
In its first official act on Dec. 20, the newly reorganized Council passed an Emergency Ordinance prohibiting the outdoor cultivation of recreational marijuana. The Municipal Code already prohibited the outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana but it was silent on recreational pot plants.
With a vote of 4-0, Council members Tuija Catalano, Keith Haydon, David Shuey and Jim Diaz passed Urgency Ordinance 473 quickly with little discussion. Council member Julie Pierce was absent.
Under Prop. 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an adult may possess up to 28.5 grams of pot and may grow up to six plants for their own recreational use.
The Municipal Code allows for indoor cultivation medical marijuana. The Council will need to decide if and how it wants to regulate indoor cultivation for recreational use. It could require permits or registration, inspections and code enforcement. Or, it could opt not to regulate indoor cultivation at all. Cities can regulate the indoor use, but not ban it.
The law does allow cities to ban outdoor cultivation altogether.
Going forward, Clayton must decide what to do about commercial activities within the city — cultivation, sales and distribution.
It may be prudent to delay any action on commercial regulation said City Attorney Mala Subramanian in her report. Commercial activity must be licensed by the state which won’t be issuing permits until January 2019.
Clayton may be wise in waiting to see how the other cities are handling this issue. “For example,” she says, “If Concord allows commercial retail sales, this could negatively impact Clayton…but the City will not be privy to any of the associated revenue.”
Perhaps the most volatile hot button issue will be regulating where people can light up. AUMA prohibits smoking (or ingesting) marijuana in “some” public places, but it doesn’t define “public place.”
Clayton’s Municipal Code has a smoking ordinance, but the City will need to decide if it wants to amend the Code to specifically include marijuana use.