Public Comment Period and Hearing - City of Carlton, Oregon; Medical Marijuana Ordinance NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on Monday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m.; location: Carlton City Hall, 191 East Main Street, the Carlton City Council held a public hearing regarding a proposed ordinance amending the Carlton Municipal Code to establish regulations and permit requirements relating to production of medical marijuana, adopting permit application criteria and procedures, providing for security and safety and establishing enforcement, violations and penalty provisions. Carlton City Council left the public comment period open until April 4th for written testimony regarding the municipal ordinace to require card holders to apply for and receive a city permit in conjunction with their state permits. The next council meeting and work session will be April 9th. The State of Oregon allows for and regulates the legal production and cultivation of medical marijuana and cities may provide for additional local regulation concerning its production and cultivation to ensure that it is done in a manner that meets the health, safety and welfare of City residents and property owners. Persons wishing to participate in the public hearing process may appear in person or by representative at the dates and times listed. Written comments may also be submitted by mailing information to 191 E. Main Street, Carlton, OR 97111. A copy of the draft ordinance is available for inspection at the City Hall located at 191 E. Main Street between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. For further information, please contact City Hall at (503) 852-7575 -or- click > here < The city of Carlton (NW of McMinnville, in Yamhill County) is holding more hearings regarding a proposed ordinance which would restrict the ability of patients and their providers who cultivate medical cannabis. Zigzagman in McMinnville brought this to my attention a few weeks ago. I contacted the city attorney to discuss the possibility of amendments. I shared the ordinance with Brian Michaels, Paul Loney, John Lucy, IV, Todd Dalotto and ACLU-Oregon's Legal Counsel, Kevin Diaz. Subsequently some of us had a telephone conference and discussed Paul's specific concerns and research Brian had previously conducted on the legal issues involved. The consensus of our group was to not assist in drafting the ordinance and, thankfully, ACLU agreed to take the lead with the city of Carlton. Attached are: * a news article regarding the last city council hearing, here; * the Ordinance as originally proposed, here; * the Ordinance as amended (specific changes are shown on a link from the web page giving notice of the hearing. I have not carefully compared that version with the one attached , but at least superficially, they seem to be the same), here; * ACLU's letter to the City Council, here In speaking with the City Attorney, it is clear to me that this is intended as a model ordinance, intended to be replicated in other communities. The city attorney shared that it is derived from one proposed by the League of Oregon Cities (their website here: www.orcities.org). Additionally, the city attorney for Carlton is also the City Attorney for other cities in Yamhill County. A good turnout of those in opposition (especially, but not only, those who live in Carlton and in Yamhill County) could help nip this effort in the bud, so to speak. Please share this Action Item widely, Lee Berger, Portland --- Hya Lee and all, I see that we need to nip this in the bud but I also see it is past time to meet with these people and draft some REAL regs that respect the issues brought up by the community and to find real solutions. The head in the sand approach we currently are using will prove to be our downfall. Check out regs for a community like arcata sometime. Regs are the only way we will keep a program. If we don't help write them we will be sorry. peace, Caleb --- Caleb, I thought so too, which is why I first contacted him. Upon reading the proposed ordinance, and discussing it with others, it became readily apparent that their purpose is not to address legitimate community concerns, but instead to fan the flames of opposition to the OMMA. OMMA is the law statewide, whether the City of Carlton likes it or not. Lee B., Portland --- Lee and others, For your review, I've attached ASA's Medical Cannabis Dispensing Collectives & Local Regulations workbook. I hope this helps. Jim --- In the News - http://www.theweedblog.com/oregon-town-looks-to-make-growing-medical-marijuana-more-difficult/ --- Carlton City Council left the public comment period open until April 4th for written testimony regarding the municipal ordinace to require card holders to apply for and receive a city permit in conjunction with their state permits. The next council meeting and work session will be April 9th. Written testimony from the ACLU was entered into the record which also included some reference material pertaining to said written testimony. Most public testimony pertained to the financial burden this ordinance may place on the city as it will surely be challenged and there would be no guarantee that the City County Insurance System would cover the cost of any such litigation. There was some public comment on personal the privacy issue as well as pre-emption, constitutionality, etc. Further discussion illuminated, in my opinion, a subtle desire to table the whole damn thing and send a proposal via League of Oregon Cities to the legislature for statutory changes to the OMMA to address overall concerns. Council members were instructed however, to print out and read the OMMA before next meeting and submit any suggestions they may have for amendments or further action at the next council meeting. This process will probably go on in Carlton for a few more months as an ordinance of this nature is generally problematic and hard to implement free from legal challenges. I think in the end it will slowly wither on the vine in its current form if not completely. There was some discussion as to streamlining the ordinance to meet a very narrow criteria pertaining to a cities responisbility to protect and ensure the safety and welfare of its citizens thereby limiting future legal challenges but this is high legalese and tricky at best. The issues still remains one of compliance regarding OMMA limitations on manufacture and possesion limits and mnanufacturing criteria, and granting law enforcement limited access to addresses of registered card holders. This also remains an issue with "the list" at the state level as well. Finally, I will try to keep abreast of Carlton's further deliberations and /or actions and report back. P.S. Perhaps it is time that we begin a statewide project whereby we put together a group that sets some timeframes for submission of legislative proposals that make us proactive regarding our own law rather than inactive. There are many avenues for legislative reform. It could be as simple as a one word ammendment to an existing statute that would clear the way for better statutory protection for medical marijuana users and providers. Nonetheless, a legislative package should be ready by say end of September. (One avenue is pre-session filing) That's six months and I think it can be done. I am committed to making this happen and am currently working on several proposals that may generate some interest. I would welcome any suggestions for legislation, (keep them brief, one page, bulletted), or suggested strategies. I will also be working on a proposed legislative agenda that could be discussed statewide as the "movements" official legislative position and agenda that everyone can help support. AT ---   Action! What to do for this Alert  Carlton City Council left the public comment period open until April 4th for written testimony regarding the municipal ordinace to require card holders to apply for and receive a city permit in conjunction with their state permits. The next council meeting and work session will be April 9th. The State of Oregon allows for and regulates the legal production and cultivation of medical marijuana and cities may provide for additional local regulation concerning its production and cultivation to ensure that it is done in a manner that meets the health, safety and welfare of City residents and property owners.   Contact Info  Persons wishing to participate in the public hearing process may appear in person or by representative at the dates and times listed. Written comments may also be submitted by mailing information to 191 E. Main Street, Carlton, OR 97111. A copy of the draft ordinance is available for inspection at the City Hall located at 191 E. Main Street between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. For further information, please contact City Hall at (503) 852-7575 -or- click > here <