San Juan Neighbors Support Marijuana “Farm”

After the fact regulations, temporary structures, criminal activity and GMO all questioned before County Council

— by Margie Doyle —

Editor’s note: Updates in italics, thanks to Council Chair Rick Hughes

The County Council heard from a standing-room-only public crowd on Monday, July 14. They were almost all there in support of the 30,000 square-foot greenhouse operation of San Juan Island’s San Juan Sun Grown, an islanders’-owned, “grow operation” for marijuana. County government has proposed a moratorium on the business until scale, scope and impacts of operations can be more completely understood. (Update: the process is complicated by the facts that the County hasn’t seen a permit request, as the greenhouse structures would be considered “temporary;” and that the state doesn’t issue a license until after the structures are built and inspected).

“Because you have been awarded a lottery slot doesn’t mean you’ll get a license to grow or sell the product,” said Hughes.

Most of the pubic speakers supported San Juan Sun Grown, the only marijuana-growing operation which has gotten a state “lottery” slot to grow and process in San Juan County; although several neighbors took issue with ramifications of having a controlled-substance growing facility “in their backyard.”

Chair Rick Hughes asked that the many commentators abide by the 3-minute time limit, and most did so. However, the public comment session extended for nearly 90 minutes, with a few exchanges with the Council.

Deborah Nolan thanked the council “for taking up the issue of a moratorium on I-502 in the county.” She claimed that she had granted an easement to the Sun Grown farm and cited concern over the impacts on county residents on agricultural lands, and also security concerns. “I’m looking for some conversation over reasonable restrictions of location and scale of grow operations in our county. “I don’t want to impede production and delivery, but this is the time to put thought in to long-term implication. To accept no restrictions would not be a thoughtful way to implement I-502 in our county.”

David Rice, owner of San Juan Sun Grown I-502 processor, said that his “pressing concern is that a council moratorium on production would decimate a local industry just as it’s opening for business.”

Rice noted the SEPA review and 200 pages of documentation the business completed, and also its “careful location to minimize impact. To say that [our operation] is ‘unsupervised,’ or ‘without regulation,’ is in our case, completely inaccurate,” Rice said.

He added that to classify growing cannabis as different from other crops is “fundamentally untrue,” and questioned how its production differs from a hog farm or raising hydrophonic tomatoes.

Councilman Jamie Stephens pointed out that the Washington State legislature separated “marijuana, useable marijuana, and marijuana-infused products” out from ‘agricultural grow’ in Senate Bill 6505 which took effect June 12.

Jenny Rice, the owner of the property on which Sun Grown intends to build its greenhouse operation, said she originally purchased the land for her horse-breeding business. She noted that she had ridden the property as a child, and that her father has been living on the property since the time of purchase, on a knoll above Fieldstone Road. An equestrian professional for 12 years, Jenny Rice said she has informed her students and their parents about plans for the growing operation.

She also noted that county residents are required to show income after expenses on farm and agricultural land each year; that she is leasing less than an acre for legal cannabis production; and that Sun Grown will have “minimal impact” on her farm and equestrian operations.

Sandy Strehlou spoke of showing her 9-year-old daughter the Sun Grown farm and compared the new marijuana crops to the salt production “hoop houses” and to the fields of hops growth on the island. “I ask you to not impede this new agricultural crop. I know that the Rices will work with our neighbors and government,” Strehlou said.

Steve Albee came before the County Council to say he’d been “up to elbows in chicken blood and feathers, but dropped what I was doing to come down here. I’m proud of the state and the county for [legalizing marijuana use, growth and sales]. It’s a new world, we only have Colorado to follow.” He noted that Sun Grown has started production following state law; and advised that property rights and environment protection be considered in regulation.

Councilman Stephens noted that the primary job of the county council is land use, involving neighbors in making intelligent decisions. Councilman Hughes pointed out that there is further complication in the definition and regulations regarding “temporary structures,” which currently require no building permits. “We’ve tried to make it easy for agricultural use, and deal with land use issues…. economic stimulation, jobs and agriculture are in the mix of the economy here, and we’re trying to follow the will of the people.”

Attorney Francine Shaw noted that marijuana is a controlled substance and there is a criminal element associated with it. She recommended establishing land use laws for such operations; and that San Juan County follow the bases of the model set by Island County for marijuana grow operations regulation:
1) Issuance of a building permit for all structures;
2) Public notice of any operation within 300 feet;
3) for operations of 10,000 square feet or larger, a public meeting is required before permitting under a conditional use permit.

Nick Power, the local counsel for San Juan Sun Grown, cited a Supreme Court ruling that some states — including Washington — have correctly asserted that once an application is approved, “those are the rules you can operate under.”

To apply restrictions retroactively is not defensible, Powers said. If a moratorium were to go into effect, it would only apply from that date forward. He asked the council to consult with its legal counsel for the “effect of the proposed action [moratorium] and come out with a clear statement for my clients.”

Peggy Bill, speaking for members of the Agricultural Resources Committee (ARC), of which she is Chair, said that her group’s focus is to “protect and restore agriculture in the county,” especially for the future.

“We’re looking at going forward; not suggesting any retroactive application,” Bill said. The ARC group compared policies and regulations in other state counties, and found that five other counties have allowed a moratorium; one county has prohibited marijuana growth outright. Concerns in other counties include water scarcity and maintaining the rural aspect of the county. Skagit County doesn’t allow greenhouses on agricultural lands.

Bill said that she would agree that marijuana is an agricultural crop, whether grown in a greenhouse or on land. “The issue is scale,” she said — water usage, pesticides and fertilizes and conversion of prime farmland for non-agricultural use.

“At this point, we don’t have any way to monitor these issues,” Bill said. She recommended that thoughtful siting, control and monitoring of environmental impacts, and assuring farmland isn’t decreased be guidelines in moving forward. She advised allowing the present business to go forward, and for a conditional use permit for any structure over 10,000 sq. ft, which would call for public input.

“ARC is not trying to impose something on operations already through the door,” Bill said. But she said the ambiguity about the status of permits and other issues, mean that, “for any future applications, we would want to make sure we have everything in place. We don’t see that we can impose new regulations on an existing operation.” (To read the memo from the Agricultural Resources Committee, go to sanjuanco.com/Agendadocs/07-14-2014/ARC )

Councilman Bob Jarman said that, since according to state law, “marijuana is not an agricultural product, than we should have its own column for it in land use, or re-define land use tables.”

Jarman agreed that other questions revolve around the “temporary structure” of greenhouses.If a building has a foundation, runs power, and has siding, “I would call it permanent. We need to take a look at all issues before us and sort through them.”

County Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord gave his observations regarding the law’s implementation.

He found conflicts with “right to farm” statutes which were not amended as part of the Senate bill 6505 and said, “From my reading, marijuana would be a farm product, as well as a business.”

Gaylord also discussed the tax situation regarding marijuana production. “Farmers get a number of tax breaks, which are intended to give ordinary farmers tax breaks.” Marijuana growers are not intended to get those tax breaks, he said. He said that SB 6505 is “a law about taxation and not about regulation: just because it is used for tax purposes doesn’t mean 6505 should be used for regulatory purposes.”

Stephens asked if the law could be used for regulatory purposes,and Gaylord responded, “That might be an approach you would take; state law is not guidance for you on regulations.”  He described the conflicts between residential and agricultural activities, such as the application of manures, dust from plowing, fertilizers, construction of storage sheds, greenhouses, stables and other structures: “All of those are known conflicts with residential uses,” Gaylord said.

“Farming is one of the few ‘hands-off’ areas of the law to this day. Farming activity is allowed in every zone of San Juan County and receives favorable tax treatment. That should be part of foundation for your analysis,” Gaylord said.

He went on to discuss the concerns regarding criminal activity. “As prosecutor, my intention is to fully prosecute, including youth and suppliers to youth. Also, the state has been very conscious of the concerns regarding cash and banking. Steps are being taken every day to improve that.”

Security measures such as fences and cameras are part of the application requirements. Gaylord surmised that most grows would be indoors; that “outdoor grows in general are not likely to occur.”

Jarman questioned how producers will guarantee that the seeds and plants they’re cultivating are not genetically modified.

Gaylord replied. “We haven’t crossed that bridge yet.”

The County has issued 6-7 permits for growing-processor marijuana cultivators in the county. Sun Grown is the only operation whose application to the state has been completed. There is one retail outlet on Orcas Island “Token Herb” (not yet in operation) and one retail outlet on San Juan Island.