HomeMy WebLinkAbout4106 1 Ordinance No. 4106
2 AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF BUTTE AMENDING SECTIONS 35-2 AND
3 35-5 TO CHAPTER 35 OF THE BUTTE COUNTY CODE ENTITLED THE "RIGHT
4 TO FARM ORDINANCE. "
5 The Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte ordains as
6 follows :
7 35-2 Findings .
8 (e) In 2015, the California Legislature enacted Senate
9 Bill 643, and Assembly Bills 243 and 266, which, among other
10 things, established the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety
11 Act (codified as California Business and Professions Code
12 sections 19300 et seq. ) .
13 (f) As part of Assembly Bill 243, section 11362 . 777 was
14 added to the California Health and Safety Code, subdivision (a)
15 of which provides as follows : "The Department of Food and
16 Agriculture shall establish a Medical Cannabis Cultivation
17 Program to be administered by the secretary, except as specified
18 in subdivision (c) , shall administer this section as it pertains
19 to the cultivation of medical marijuana. For purposes of this
20 section and Chapter 3. 5 (commencing with Section 19300) of the
21 Business and Professions Code, medical cannabis is an
22 agricultural product. "
23 (g) Although the statement in Section 11362 . 777 of the
24 Health and Safety Code that medical cannabis is an agricultural
25 product is limited to Section 11362 . 777 of the Health and Safety
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1 Code and Chapter 3 . 5 of the California Business and Professions
2 Code, to avoid any confusion, it has been recommended that Butte
3 County' s Right to Farm Ordinance be amended to confirm that for
4 purposes of the Right to Farm Ordinance, set forth in Chapter 35
5 of the Butte County Code, the cultivation of marijuana is not an
6 agricultural operation.
7 (h) Marijuana is unlike other crops that are cultivated and
8 harvested in Butte County. In previous public meetings
9 regarding marijuana-related ordinances, which were well-attended
10 by hundreds of Butte County residents, individuals reported that
11 marijuana grown in residential backyards results in an
12 invitation to criminal activity for persons who would steal
13 marijuana plants out of backyards . Some marijuana growers would
14 live in a tent in their backyard, carrying firearms and
15 utilizing guard dogs to protect their marijuana plants .
16 Residents reported they were uncomfortable allowing their
17 children to play outside in their neighborhood due to such
18 dangerous activity. Cultivators of medical marijuana stated
19 that they would not grow medical marijuana at their own
20 residence to protect their children. Butte County law
21 enforcement continues to respond to numerous calls for service
22 that involve the illegal cultivation, distribution, use, and
23 sale of marijuana, and continues to expend County resources to
24 arrest and prosecute those involved.
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1 35-5 Definitions .
2 "Agricultural operation" means and includes, but shall not be
3 limited to, the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying,
4 the production, irrigation, frost protection, cultivation,
5 growing, harvesting, processing and storing of any agricultural
6 commodity, including viticulture, horticulture, timber or
7 apiculture, the raising of livestock, fur bearing animals, fish
8 or poultry, and any commercial agricultural practices performed
9 incident to or in conjunction with such operations, including
10 preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market, or
11 delivery to carriers for transportation to market . The
12 cultivation of marijuana is not an agricultural operation,
13 subject to the benefits of the Right to Farm Ordinance.
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15 Section 3 . The County finds that this Ordinance is not subject
16 to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to
17 Sections 15060 (c) (2) (the activity will not result in a direct
18 or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the
19 environment) and 15061 (b) (3) (there is no possibility the
20 activity in question may have a significant effect on the
21 environment) . In addition to the foregoing general exemptions,
22 the following categorical exemptions apply: Sections 15308
23 (actions taken as authorized by local ordinance to assure
24 protection of the environment) and 15321 (action by agency for
25 enforcement of a law, general rule, standard or objective
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1 administered or adopted by the agency, including by direct
2 referral to the County Counsel as appropriate for judicial
3 enforcement) .
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5 Section 4 . Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance or
6 the application thereof to any person or circumstances is for
7 any reason held to be invalid by a court of competent
8 jurisdiction, such provision shall be deemed severable, and the
9 invalidity thereof shall not affect the remaining provisions or
10 other applications of the Ordinance which can be given effect
11 without the invalid provision or application thereof.
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13 Section 5 . Effective Date and Publication. This Ordinance
14 shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date of its
15 passage . The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors is authorized
16 and directed to publish this ordinance before the expiration of
17 fifteen (15) days after its passage. This Ordinance shall be
18 published once, with the names of the members of the Board of
19 Supervisors voting for and against it, in the Enterprise Record
20 a newspaper of general circulation published in the County of
21 Butte, State of California.
22 PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of the county of
23 Butte, State of California, on the 26th day of January, 2016, by
24 the following vote :
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1 lEAYES : Supervisors Connelly, Wahl, Kirk, Lambert, and. Teeter
NOES : None
2 ABSENT : None
NOT VOTING: None
3
Bill Connell F„ Chair of the
4 Butte County Board of
Supervisors
5 :
6 ATTEST:
7 PAUL HAHN, Chie4 Administrative Officer
and Clerk of tVe Board ---- ---
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9 By:
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