FORT BRAGG — The Fort Bragg City Council held a special meeting Monday evening to discuss updating several of the city’s ordinances regarding cannabis cultivation and sale.
City updates cannabis code to match state’s language
Currently, under Fort Bragg Municipal Code 9.30.100, anyone who has been “convicted of a felony, or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or the illegal use, possession, transportation, distribution, or similar activities related” cannot be in a position of manager or above at a cannabis cultivation or retail location within city limits. This policy is stricter than the state’s requirements.
City Counselor Tess Albin Smith also said she was in favor of leaving the current language as is, but Vice Mayor Jessica Morsell-Haye said she found the language “troublesome” and “ambiguous,” and added that “it feels like an overreach.”
“I feel like it’s unnecessarily complicating things and I’m inclined here to go with the state’s approach and focus on owners and applicants, versus getting into their employees,’ Morsel-Haye said. “If we’re going to say that employees cannot have convictions, then we need to spell it out a little clearer.”
One idea was to base the city’s ordinances on the City of Ukiah’s cannabis cultivation ordinance, but Mayor Bernie Norvell said he had some problem with the “moral turpitude” clause.
“I worry about us judging someone and denying them a job,” he said.
The council voted to change the city’s ordinance to follow the state’s language, which does not include the “moral turpitude” clause and the felony rules do not extend to employees that are not managers. This change will also update and streamline the process for a Cannabis Business License.
In-city cannabis cultivation policy also changed
The City Council also directed staff on their plans to allow cannabis cultivation within city limits. This would include regulations on indoor and outdoor growing facilities, maximum size requirements and any prohibitions.
Several considerations for the council were what types of allowable cultivations (such as outdoor, mixed light, and/or indoor), the water conservation measures or restrictions the council wanted to place on grows, and any energy efficiency requirements.
The council agreed that it would not allow outdoor cultivation for commercial use, but would allow up to six outdoor plants for personal use.
For indoor cultivation, the council agreed that commercial use was OK, as long as odor-eliminating steps were taken, and the city would continue to work with the Fort Bragg Police Department for security, and various decisions were made about eco-friendly lighting and water usage, depending on type of grow.
The council did not make a decision on the other items due to a predetermined decision to end the meeting at 8 p.m.
The discussion will be furthered at a special council meeting May 20, at 6 p.m., via virtual web host. Visit the city’s website at city.fortbragg.com for more information.
