How to resolve AdBlock issue? August public hearings set for Clearlake, county sales tax measures
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Last week the Board of Supervisors and the Clearlake City Council each took the next steps in putting sales tax measures before voters this November.
Last Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved updated language and a revenue plan for a proposed half-cent sales tax to use for lake-related projects, including invasive species prevention programs, aquatic weed abatement and a water quality program.
Then, on Thursday, the Clearlake City Council approved moving forward with a one-cent sales tax measure to improve city streets and code enforcement services.
Both the city and the county want the taxes to be for specific uses, which requires a two-thirds vote – or super majority – from community members.
The county estimates the tax to help keep Clear Lake healthy could bring in $2.4 million annually.
The city councils of both Clearlake and Lakeport have voted to give support to the county’s lake tax.
A board-appointed citizen oversight committee will assist the county in making sure the funds from the tax are spent in conformity with the expenditure plan, according to the board’s draft ordinance.
In order to put the tax on the ballot, the board will hold a final public hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 7.
The Clearlake City Council approved its proposed sales tax measure in a 4-0 vote, with Vice Mayor Jeri Spittler absent from the meeting last Thursday.
The city administration has estimated the tax annually will bring in about $1.4 million, which will be used for road maintenance and continuing efforts to clean up the city.
City Manager Joan Phillipe said animal control – also a major concern for the city – would be covered under code enforcement.
The council also will hold a final public hearing on Thursday, Aug. 9, to take public input on the proposed road and code enforcement tax in preparation for placing it before city voters Nov. 6.
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Third annual 'Grillin’ on the Green' tickets still available
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Competition between local organizations, individuals and professionals will be heating up Saturday, Aug. 4, as grillers square off during the third annual “Grillin’ on the Green” fundraiser at Westside Community Park, 1401 Westside Park Road.
“Come out and join us for a fun evening in the park. Dance. Eat. Play – all while helping us raise funds to develop the park,” said Dennis Rollins, chair of the Westside Community Park Committee.
Children’s activities including a bounce house and water slide are planned, and the whole family will enjoy musical entertainment by Andy Rossoff and EarReverence, said Rollins.
Classic cars will be on display by the No Name Car Club and the National Antique Auto Club.
Tickets are still available for the 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. event and may be purchased in advance at the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Bicycles and Lake Event Design, all in Lakeport.
Additionally, people may call Cindy Ustrud, 707-263-7091, or Dennis Rollins, 7-7-349-0969, for tickets or information.
Ticket prices for the event are $25 per adult, $10 per child 12 years old or younger, and no charge for children 2 years old or younger.
Tickets will be sold at the function; however, organizers say attendees will want to arrive early to make sure they get their tastes from each of the cook-off participants and cast votes for their favorites.
Participating cook-off teams vying for bragging rights this year include the Lakeport Kiwanis Club, the Lake County Board of Supervisors, the Lakeport Lions, the Early Lake Lions, Lakeport and Kelseyville Rotary, the Clear Lake Sports Foundation (Casey Dye), Scott DeWeese, James Dunton, the California Highway Patrol, and the Lakeport City Council.
Kenny Parlet will supply baked beans as one of the side dishes, while Nancy Ruzicka and Karan Mackey will provide desserts. Snow cones will be available from Marta and Domingo Villa.
Competition won’t be limited to the barbecue cook-off. The Lakeport Kiwanis Club is inviting teams of washer tossers to participate in a “washer tournament” during this year’s event. Teams will compete for cash and non-cash prizes. The tournament entry fee is $40 per team.
For more information and entry forms, visit the Kiwanis website at http://kiwanislakeport.org .
Information about the event and photos of last year’s Grillin’ on the Green can be found on the park’s website, www.westsidecommunitypark.org .
This year’s major sponsors are the Keeling-Barnes Family Foundation, which is pledging matching funds up to $5,000; KNTI Radio; Lake County News; Lake County Electric Supply; Dr. Alexander McGeoch, DDS; Strohmeier’s Auto Center; Margaret Silveira; and the Ustrud-Rollins Family.
Levels of sponsor recognition are $100, $300, $500, $1,000, $3,000 and $5,000. Sponsors will be recognized at the Grillin’ on the Green event.
Westside Community Park is a City of Lakeport recreational facility that was established 13 years ago.
The nonprofit park committee is developing the park in conjunction with the city of Lakeport, volunteers, and numerous contributions by individuals and businesses dedicated to constructing a recreational facility for the youth and adults of Lake County.
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Judge grants limited temporary restraining order against county over marijuana cultivation ordinance
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A judge on Friday granted a limited temporary restraining order to four plaintiffs who fear their marijuana plants will be eradicated by local officials acting under the authority of a 45-day interim urgency marijuana cultivation ordinance.
Judge David Herrick granted the restraining order only as it applied to Don Merrill and his three anonymous co-plaintiffs in the case.
Herrick said he would not make a global order that's going to affect every person in Lake County.
The precise wording of the order is to be drafted by Senior Deputy County Counsel Bob Bridges and attorney Joe Elford, who filed the motion earlier this month on behalf of Merrill and the three others – two men and a woman – who are medical marijuana patients.
The Board of Supervisors passed the ordinance on July 9, with Elford filing the action two days later.
The ordinance sets limits on marijuana cultivation, allowing for up to six plants to be grown outdoors on a half acre or less, 12 plants with a 75-foot setback on parcels of half an acre to one acre, 18 plants and a 150-foot setback on parcels one to five acres in size, 36 plants and a minimum 150 foot setback on five- to 40-acre parcels, and a maximum of 48 plants on parcels 40 acres and larger. There also are screening requirements.
Elford said he wanted to start by extending an olive branch to the county, which he said “represents that it has no intention of going after the plaintiffs in this case” or people like them.
He asked that the temporary restraining order make the county good on its word.
Bridges said Elford was asking to enjoin the enforcement of the ordinance, which he said the county intends to use to address egregious grows and environmental hazards. He said there are problems and “we need this ordinance.”
Bridges said he didn't have the authority to agree to Elford's stipulation, explaining that the plaintiffs were not their priority for enforcement.
The enforcements that have taken place so far have focused on dumped sewage, illegal wells, firearms and prescription drugs, said Bridges. “That's where we're going. We're going after the problems.”
“I'm simply asking for a temporary restraining order to hold them at their word,” said Elford.
He also noted during the hearing that the plaintiffs were not seeking to stop all enforcement. “We've already taken that off the table.”
Since the initial hearing on the temporary restraining order on Thursday, July 12, enforcements have taken place. “The enforcement proves this is no idle threat,” said Elford.
Once plants are uprooted there is irreparable harm, said Elford. He said the temporary restraining order would “maintain the status quo until we can get this fully adjudicated at the preliminary injunction stage.”
He said his unnamed defendants don't have the economic means to grow indoors or to purchase marijuana from a dispensary. “These are people who need more marijuana than the law allows,” he said.
Elford argued that under the state's Medical Marijuana Program law, qualified medical marijuana patients can have a minimum of six mature marijuana plants. The county ordinance clearly conflicts with that, he argued.
Merrill has a 30-member collective – which Elford said is allowed under state law – and grows his marijuana supply on a parcel of just over 10 acres. On his property he’s limited to 36 plants, but has 50.
Elford said the county can go after problems with marijuana grows through its normal code enforcement process, and doesn't need the ordinance.
Bridges said the plaintiffs' arguments were “absurd” and could lead to serious consequences for the county. He said they offered no specific facts. “All they talk about is fear and speculation.”
He said the county is prioritizing its enforcements. “Our role is not to go after legitimate patients and legitimate needs.”
The ordinance only limits outdoor cultivation, meaning there are alternatives, said Bridges. He said there are 24,000 potential sites in the county where a minimum six plants can be grown.
Bridges said that the Bill of Rights offers some of the most sacred rights – the right to bear arms, freedom of speech and freedom of the press – but he said all have reasonable regulation.
No right is totally free, said Bridges, yet he argued that the plaintiffs were saying they can grow as much marijuana as they need to. Bridges suggested they were claiming a “super right” exempt from all regulations, which he called unprecedented in the history of jurisprudence.
He said the state's marijuana laws are meant to provide a criminal defense for patients. “They would have the court turn the county into a regulatory free zone,” which Bridges said would cause the county's residents irreparable harm.
“We request the court not to let this happen, not to turn this county into a regulatory free zone, which is what the plaintiffs' requested relief takes us to,” said Bridges.
Elford said he'd never claimed people have an unfettered right to cultivate as much marijuana as they want. He said the plaintiffs were asking for their rights under the Compassionate Use Act and the Medical Marijuana Program Act.
“You can't let the subjective needs of people trump zoning,” said Bridges, noting he can't open a fast food restaurant or gas station in a residential area. “Our society doesn't work that way.”
Herrick acknowledged that the marijuana cultivation situation had gotten to the point where in many instances “it is a public safety hazard.”
He suggested that what may be the plaintiffs' most difficult hurdle is the tension between the valid exercise of governmental land use controls, restrictions and regulations versus the Compassionate Use Act.
Ultimately, however, he said he wasn't going to discuss those issues, which were more appropriate for the preliminary injunction hearing.
Herrick said it would have been impossible for the plaintiffs to have anticipated the precise language and numerical limitations the ordinance ultimately would contain at the start of the growing season.
“The immediate eradication of those plants would, in my view, constitute irreparable harm,” he said. “Once they're gone, they're gone.”
He suggested a temporary restraining order that would specifically protect the plaintiffs and the numbers of plants they need based on what they declared in their action. Herrick directed Elford and Bridges to work on the language.
A hearing on an order to show cause for a preliminary injunction will be held at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 15.
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Second temporary restraining order sought against county over urgency marijuana cultivation ordinance
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The county of Lake has been served with another attempt at a temporary restraining order as a result of an interim urgency ordinance governing marijuana cultivation adopted earlier this month.
On Thursday, Lucerne resident Conrad Justice Kiczenski and his father, Ron, filed an action against the county and Sheriff Frank Rivero, seeking to stop the implementation of the 45-day interim ordinance which the Board of Supervisors passed Monday, July 9.
The ordinance sets limits on marijuana cultivation, allowing for up to six plants to be grown outdoors on a half acre or less, 12 plants with a 75-foot setback on parcels of half an acre to one acre, 18 plants and a 150-foot setback on parcels one to five acres in size, 36 plants and a minimum 150 foot setback on five- to 40-acre parcels, and a maximum of 48 plants on parcels 40 acres and larger. There also are screening requirements.
County Counsel Anita Grant confirmed the county was served with the Kiczenskis' action.
The Kiczenzkis assert that possession, planting and cultivation of marijuana for personal use is their religious duty. They argue that any constraints imposed violate their rights to the free exercise and enjoyment of religion.
A hearing on the Kiczenskis' request for the restraining order will be held at 4 p.m. Friday before Judge David Herrick in Lake County Superior Court Department Department 1.
The Friday afternoon hearing will follow a 3:30 p.m. hearing before Judge Herrick on another request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction filed earlier this month by Don Merrill and three unnamed plaintiffs, as Lake County News has reported.
An initial hearing in Merrill's case was held Thursday, July 12. At that time, Judge Herrick said he didn't have sufficient evidence of harm to grant the request, and continued the hearing in order to give Merrill and his fellow plaintiffs the opportunity to provide additional information.
Merrill had been a member of a medicinal marijuana cultivation advisory board appointed by the Board of Supervisors. In the wake of Merrill's legal action, the board voted to disband the board.
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Three Lakeport City Council seats open in November
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The filing period is open for seats on the Lakeport City Council and several potential candidates already have taken out papers, according to the city clerk.
Official nomination papers became available on Monday, July 16, for candidates running for the Lakeport City Council this fall.
Three seats, each for a four-year term, will be on this November's ballot, according to City Clerk Janel Chapman.
Chapman said the deadline to file nomination papers for the seats is 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10.
The seats up for election this year currently are held by Bob Rumfelt, Suzanne Lyons and Roy Parmentier.
As of Thursday, Rumfelt and Lyons had taken out nomination papers. Parmentier has so far not taken out papers, and has indicated in meetings that he wasn't planning to run again.
Also taking out papers are Marc Spillman, a former city planning commissioner, and local businessman Kenny Parlet.
“None have officially filed, however, so they are really not yet candidates,” Chapman said.
Chapman said interested candidates must be registered to vote and reside within the Lakeport city limits.
Each candidate running for the council must be nominated by not less than 20 nor more than 30 registered voters.
In order to meet that requirement, it's advised that candidates pick up nomination papers far enough in advance of the deadline to gather the needed signatures.
If you are interested in running for Lakeport City Council, contact Chapman at 707-263-5615, Extension 12, for further information and to set up an appointment to pick up and review the nomination packet.
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