CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council is set to hold its first reading of an updated draft marijuana cultivation ordinance this week, and also will consider an ordinance that would authorize it to collect franchise fees and expand its cable access holdings.
The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive, for a closed session to discuss a liability claim filed against the city by Grant Washam before convening in open session at 6 p.m.
The proposed marijuana cultivation ordinance has been revamped after it failed to get a council vote earlier this summer.
In August the council told staff to rework the ordinance, which is based on one the Lake County Board of Supervisors approved in July 2012. It prevents grows on vacant parcels and links plant numbers to parcel sizes.
City Manager Joan Phillipe’s report to the council on the draft ordinance said the updated document includes a definition for child care centers, within 600 feet of which outdoor cultivation may not take place, and adds provisions to grandfather existing child care centers. It also fine tunes some language relating to parcel sizes.
Phillipe said the document also makes clear that “it is the city’s intent to enforce the ordinance based on legitimate and verified complaints as well as providing ability to enforce general welfare, safety and health concerns.”
In addition, the draft ordinance establishes a 10-foot setback on lots smaller than half an acre and a 25-foot setback on half-acre lots, adds definitions for “residence” and “school,” and makes the ordinance’s effective date Jan. 1, 2014, according to Phillipe.
In other council business, council members will hold the first reading of an ordinance relating to state video service franchises.
The staff report said that if the ordinance is enacted it would authorize the city to fully exercise the regulatory authority it retains under the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Action of 2006, which includes collecting franchise and cable access television fees, and obtaining capacity for up to three public access, educational and government channels.
The city already has one such channel, TV8.
The council also will review the resolutions packet for the League of California Cities 2013 annual conference and determine the city's position on the issues.
Also on the agenda is a proclamation declaring September as Suicide Awareness Month.
Items on the consent agenda – considered to be noncontroversial and accepted as a slate with one vote – include warrant registers; minutes of the Aug. 22 meeting; a resolution approving submission of a grant application for the funding and execution of a grant agreement and any amendments thereto from CalRecycle; and minutes of the July 10 Lake County Vector Control District.
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091213 Clearlake City Council - Draft Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance
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