Butte County

Measure G Ordinance - Majority Approval Required

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte, State of California, as follows: 

1. The Board hereby submits Ordinance No. 4106 to the voters at the Primary Election to be held June 7, 2016;

2. The question to be submitted to the voters shall be: Shall Ordinance No. 4106, an Ordinance of the County of Butte amending Sections 35-2 and 35-5, to Chapter 35 of the Butte County Code, entitled the "Right to Farm Ordinance" be adopted?

3. Said election shall be consolidated with the statewide primary election to be held on June 7, 2016;

4. Said election shall be held and conducted pursuant to the procedures specified in Part 3 of Division 10 of the California Elections Code commencing at Section 10400:

5. For purposes of this election, and Ordinance No. 4106, the "County voters" and the "County electorate" shall include all voters in the County, including voters in the incorporated areas of the County; and

6. In accordance with Elections Code Section 13120, the question to be submitted to the voters shall read as

   follows:

   Shall Ordinance No. 4106, an Ordinance of the County of Butte amending Sections 35-2 and 35-5 to Chapter 35 of the Butte County Code entitled the "Right to Farm Ordinance" be adopted?
   

   Yes

   
   No

Measure G is a referendum on Ordinance 4106 adopted by the Butte County Board of Supervisors. A referendum submits a Board-adopted ordinance to a vote of the County's registered voters. On January 26, 2016, the Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance 4106, amending Chapter 35 of the Butte County Code. A referendum petition to either repeal Ordinance 4106 or submit it to the voters received the required number of signatures. On March 8, 2016, the Board of Supervisors chose to submit the Ordinance to the voters. If approved by the voters. Ordinance 4106 would:

Clarify that the cultivation of marijuana is not an agricultural operation that is subject to the benefits of Chapter 35 of the Butte County Code, known as the "Right to Farm Ordinance.

In 2015, the California Legislature adopted the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (the "Act"), which added Section 11362.777 to the Health & Safety Code. which provides that for purposes of the Act only, "medical cannabis is an agricultural product.^" The County of Butte has not implemented the provisions of the Act. Therefore, to avoid any confusion, the Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance 4106, to confirm that the cultivation of marijuana is not an agricultural operation that is subject to the benefits of the Right to Farm Ordinance.

A "yes vote means you support implementing these provisions.

A "no" vote means you do not support implementing these provisions.

If a majority of the votes cast on the measure are "yes", then the measure will be approved and Ordinance 4106 will become effective ten days after the vote is declared by the Board of Supervisors. If a majority of the votes cast on the measure are "no", then the measure will not be approved and Ordinance 4106 will not become effective.

s/Bruce Alpert
Butte County Counsel

The Butte County Auditor-Controller has prepared the following fiscal impact analysis of Measure "G" (Medical Marijuana Cultivation Ordinance) pursuant to Election Code Section 9160. This analysis of the resulting costs and revenues of the proposed measure is based on projected requirements to fulfill the intent of the measure.

Fiscal Impact:

This Measure would have no direct effect on revenues of the County. However, there is an indirect effect on County's expenditures.

In previous public meetings regarding marijuana-related ordinances, individuals reported that marijuana grown in residential backyards resulted in an invitation to criminal activity for persons who would steal marijuana plants out of backyards. County law enforcement continues to respond to numerous calls for service that involve the illegal cultivation, distribution, use, and sale of marijuana; and the County continues to expend resources to arrest and prosecute those involved. If cultivation of marijuana is categorized as an agricultural commodity, it could reasonable be suspected that crops targeted for thefts would result in increased law enforcement costs.

For the reasons described above, Ordinance 4106 - confirming cultivation of marijuana is not an agricultural operation subject to the benefits of the Right to Farm Ordinance - would indirectly affect County's enforcement costs.

AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNTY OF BUTTE AMENDING SECTIONS 35-2 AND
35-5 TO CHAPTER 35 OF THE BUTTE COUNTY CODE ENTITLED THE “RIGHT
TO FARM ORDINANCE.”

The Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte ordains as follows: 

Section 1. Section 35-2 of the Butte County Code is amended by adding the following: 

35-2 Findings. 

(e) In 2015, the California Legislature enacted Senate Bill 643, and Assembly Bills 243 and 266, which, among other things, established the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (codified as California Business and Professions Code sections 19300 et seq.).

(f) As part of Assembly Bill 243, section 11362.777 was added to the California Health and Safety Code, subdivision (a) of which provides as follows: “The Department of Food and Agriculture shall establish a Medical Cannabis Cultivation Program to be administered by the secretary, except as specified in subdivision (c), shall administer this section as it pertains to the cultivation of medical marijuana. For purposes of this section and Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 19300) of the Business and Professions Code, medical cannabis is an agricultural product.”

(g) Although the statement in Section 11362.777 of the Health and Safety Code that medical cannabis is an agricultural product is limited to Section 11362.777 of the Health and Safety Code  and Chapter 3.5 of the California Business and Professions Code, to avoid any confusion, it has been recommended that Butte County’s Right to Farm Ordinance be amended to confirm that for purposes of the Right to Farm Ordinance, set forth in Chapter 35 of the Butte County Code, the cultivation of marijuana is not an agricultural operation.

(h) Marijuana is unlike other crops that are cultivated and harvested in Butte County. In previous public meetings regarding marijuana-related ordinances, which were well-attended by hundreds of Butte County residents, individuals reported that marijuana grown in residential backyards results in an invitation to criminal activity for persons who would steal marijuana plants out of backyards. Some marijuana growers would live in a tent in their backyard, carrying firearms and utilizing guard dogs to protect their marijuana plants. Residents reported they were uncomfortable allowing their children to play outside in their neighborhood due to such dangerous activity. Cultivators of medical marijuana stated that they would not grow medical marijuana at their own residence to protect their children. Butte County law enforcement continues to respond to numerous calls for service that involve the illegal cultivation, distribution, use, and sale of marijuana, and continues to expend County resources to arrest and prosecute those involved.

Section 2. Section 35-5 of the Butte County Code is hereby amended only by strikeout and/or underline as follows:

 35-5 Definitions.

 "Agricultural operation" means and includes, but shall not be limited to, the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, irrigation, frost protection, cultivation, growing, harvesting, processing and storing of any agricultural commodity, including viticulture, horticulture, timber or apiculture, the raising of livestock, fur bearing animals, fish or poultry, and any commercial agricultural practices performed incident to or in conjunction with such operations, including preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market, or delivery to carriers for transportation to market. The cultivation of marijuana is not an agricultural operation, subject to the benefits of the Right to Farm Ordinance.

Section 3. The County finds that this Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15061(b)(3) (there is no possibility the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment). In addition to the foregoing general exemptions, the following categorical exemptions apply: Sections 15308 (actions taken as authorized by local ordinance to assure protection of the environment) and 15321 (action by agency for enforcement of a law, general rule, standard or objective administered or adopted by the agency, including by direct referral to the County Counsel as appropriate for judicial enforcement).

Section 4. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is for any reason held to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be deemed severable, and the invalidity thereof shall not affect the remaining provisions or other applications of the Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application thereof.

Section 5. Effective Date and Publication. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date of its passage. The Clerk of the Board of Supervisors is authorized and directed to publish this ordinance before the expiration of fifteen (15) days after its passage. This Ordinance shall be published once, with the names of the members of the Board of Supervisors voting for and against it, in the Enterprise Record a newspaper of general circulation published in the County of Butte, State of California.

PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte, State of California, on the _______day of _________, 2016, by the following vote:

AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:

NOT VOTING:

____________________________

Bill Connelly, Chair of the Butte
County Board of Supervisors

ATTEST:

PAUL HAHN, Chief Administrative Officer

and Clerk of the Board

By: _________________

       Deputy