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Hotchkiss‘ Second Draft of Private Pot Growing Ordinance Being Reviewed

April 30th, 2014

Filed under Featured, Hotchkiss, News, Recreation

 

Hotchkiss‘ Second Draft of Private Pot Growing Ordinance Being Reviewed

By Thomas Wills

                At their April 10 meeting, the Hotchkiss Trustees were presented with a second draft of an ordinance imposing regulations on the personal growing of cannabis.  Although both commercial recreational and medical marijuana have been banned by the Town (2008 and 2012) as allowed by the State Constitution, this is the first try at the generally, legally untested area of regulating personal-use growing that has been legal (medical) since 2000.  

                The trustees were asked to review the new draft and provide comments to the Town Attorney, by way of the Town Clerk.

                At a work session on March 6, the Council deemed a comprehensive first draft by new Town Attorney, Bo Nerlin of Ridgway, too overreaching. The second draft prunes back some of the more odd proposed restrictions such as a proscription against growing a personal pot plant in a kitchen, primary bedroom or bathroom.

                On the other hand, there are additions that might make personal use growing inside a home almost impossible for the average person, including the requirement that any indoor marijuana cultivation area include state-of-the-art ventilation and filtration systems that may cost many thousands of dollars.

                The newest draft also does not specifically address outdoor growing. At the March 6 work session, it was generally agreed that growing within a high fenced, secured yard area met the constitutional requirement for growing out of the public view in an “enclosed, locked space”. The word “structure” does not appear in Amendment 64. Many Hotchkiss residents took advantage of the passage of Amendment 64 to grow a few plants in enclosed back garden areas during the 2013 summer season.

                Another tricky part of completing the ordinance will be setting specific square footage limits on growing, with the goal being to prevent “gaming” of the existing State regulations by claiming large numbers of adult residents at a single home, thus turning a house, outbuilding or yard into a de-facto commercial scale grow facility.  According to local experts, one cannabis plant requires at least 9 square feet to thrive.

                Since Delta County has no building codes and no zoning, it has been pointed out that the more ambitious quasi-legal grow operations will probably always be done outside of the towns. Currently, local residents do not have the option of buying cannabis products from a local commercial store, with the nearest recreational marijuana businesses being in Carbondale, Crested Butte and Ridgway.  Paonia has scheduled a vote on allowing commercial recreational marijuana on the November ballot.

                Neither Paonia nor Crawford are currently contemplating similar private marijuana growing regulations.

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