Clearlake moves toward ban on growing pot

The Clearlake City Council is poised to ban all marijuana cultivation in the city limits.

The council voted 4-1 Thursday night to pursue the ban following a lengthy hearing attended by about 200 people, Councilman Russ Perdock said.

If finalized, the ordinance would be the strictest pot ordinance in Lake County. It was triggered by a failure of the city’s former ordinance to control marijuana-growing in the city, said Perdock, a former Lake County sheriff’s deputy who was seated on the council in December.

The existing ordinance allows up to six plants in residential neighborhoods and more on larger parcels, but some residents have been growing substantially more than that, as many as 100 plants, a problem city officials and police have been unable to quash, Perdock said.

The ordinance was tentatively adopted despite an outpouring of opposition. Perdock said most of the people at Thursday night’s hearing were pro-marijuana.

Some of them threatened to sue the city if it adopted the ordinance, he said.

A second reading of the ordinance and possible final vote is scheduled for Feb. 26.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@MendoReporter.