PD Editorial: In banning outdoor pot gardens, Santa Rosa is late to the party

Santa Rosa city staff probably did the responsible thing last week in pulling the plug - albeit at the 11th hour - on plans for a 45-day moratorium on outdoor growing of marijuana in Santa Rosa. The decision came just before the urgency ordinance was scheduled to go for a vote by the City Council and was made out of respect for the high volume of negative feedback the city had received about the plan. This staff recommendation needed more work, and the public deserved to more time to digest what the city was considering.

But this issue is not going away. For some, that will likely become more apparent in the weeks to come as the true impacts of California’s decision to legalize the recreational use of marijuana take root - and become more pungent.

The cause for the emergency ordinance was the city’s desire to have the moratorium in place before the marijuana growing season started. But with the decision to pull back, that window of opportunity may have closed.

Nonetheless, something needs to be done to prevent Santa Rosa neighborhoods from becoming the latest battlegrounds over the regulation of the pot industry. As residents of Mendocino and Lake counties have already learned - as demonstrated by their ballot box skirmishes over regulatory controls - living next door to someone growing cannabis outdoors, even small crops, can present unique challenges. These include dealing with the crop’s skunk-like odor as well as potential security risks.

That’s why many other California communities have already taken steps to ban outdoor growing of cannabis. Since the approval of Proposition 64, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana, cities from Windsor and Sonoma to Palo Alto and San Jose have passed ordinances prohibiting outdoor growing. In many respects, Santa Rosa is late to this party.

But it’s not too late. It’s true that Santa Rosa has not barred outdoor growing since growing medical cannabis for personal use became legal more than 20 years ago. But the potential for outdoor crops is higher now with the passage of Proposition 64, which allows for the cultivation of up to six marijuana plants for personal use.

While Proposition 64 protects everyone’s right to grow up their six plants indoors or in greenhouses, it makes clear that cities and counties may ban commercial cannabis operations and outdoor grows if they see fit.

We recognize that more than 57 percent of California voters approved Proposition 64, and in Sonoma County the measure passed with more than 59 percent of the vote. But polls also show that a large percentage of people who supported the measure are not users of marijuana and don’t intend to be. Most likely, many would prefer not to have crops growing outdoors in their residential neighborhoods.

In Santa Rosa, the issue of banning outdoor growing has now been sent back to the city’s cannabis subcommittee for further evaluation and discussion. We hope to see it return. The city can always amend its rules at a later date to allow outdoor growing. But once the city gives the green light to open-air crops, there’s no going back.