Restriction of pot growing quashed
Corrales ordinance to prohibit pot production in residential zones fails
We just couldn’t get it quite right. That was the sentiment shared by the Corrales Village Council after a second ordinance to restrict pot production, in one way or another, was struck down.
“I’m sure we will be discussing this topic again in the future,” Mayor Scott Kominiak said, after the ordinance fell in a 3-2 vote Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, there is nothing keeping more medical marijuana farms from sprouting up in the village of Corrales, no matter the zone.
The latest ordinance followed on the heels of a failed all-out ban, seen as a preemptive strike, on the future of marijuana legalization and an abundance of medical grow farms in the village. A few medical pot farms currently exist in the village.
This latest legislation would have restricted growing marijuana to the commercial zones of the village and included a “use by review” clause, which would require proposed farms to get approval through a site development plan and meet criteria such as enclosed grow houses, inspections by the fire chief, proper by-product disposal and other regulations.
The crowd was significantly smaller than during the past two meetings, and only three Corraleños addressed the topic.
Eileen Gutierrez spoke on behalf of her son Steve, who started a petition that spawned the original ordinance two months ago.
“As shown by these signatures, there is strong support to approve
the proposed ordinance,” she said of the 300 signatures to prevent cannabis growth in residential areas. “The future success of the village, and its financial stability, depends on making the village a destination.”
Gutierrez emphasized the importance that the village select attractive businesses and showed support for the “use-by-review” clause, which provides necessary controls for the village and its citizens to decide future activities in a commercial zone.
“As a personal note, I want to make it clear that we are not against medical cannabis,” she said. “We are against this type of commercial industry being allowed in residential zones.”
Councilor Jim Fahey, who has been against previous ordinances, expressed his opposition.
“This is just schizophrenic. Here we are saying ‘you can’t grow something’ — even though it’s legal — it makes no sense,” he said. “I’m opposed to any restriction to growing any crop of any kind in our village.”
Councilor Philip Gasteyer spoke of reaching a balance between the petitioners and those who encourage a “different crop” in the village.
Like Gutierrez, Gasteyer praised the “use by review” approach, as it would give Planning and Zoning a say in the matter in addition to requiring mailings, as legal notice, to adjacent landowners.
Councilor David Dornburg wanted to specify the necessity for “use by review” as cannabis is grown differently than other crops, as water, light and electricity usage is intensified to get producers “more bang for their buck.”
Councilor Pat Clauser said she supported anything that could make money for the village.
“It is something that we should try,” she said. Having worked on village budgets for almost 20 years, Clauser said it is difficult to make money in the village and not have it be objectionable to Corraleños in one way or another.
Councilor George Wright, who sponsored the original ban, proposed multiple amendments that seemed to put a snag in the conversation.
The amendments, which proposed that “retail sales are prohibited” and opaque material be used by growers to minimize light pollution, found the council hung up on hypotheticals that could arise from such measures. Both amendments when the motions failed to get seconded.
While Kominiak and Village Attorney John Appell disputed the meaning of “retail sale,” Dornburg and others saw the possibility of a light restriction being leveled on regular people.
“Regardless of how you feel about the issue, this is going to open up many cases of cans of worms,” Kominiak said of the amendments and their possible future complications. “This is just a really bad way to do business.”
The discussion on the amendments seemed to derail passage of the ordinance to restrict growing to commercial zones.
“There was some discussion of a moratorium on this until we can get our act together,” Dornburg said after the vote.