To the Editor:
Redwood Valley and Willits citizens' attempts to form Cannabis Prohibition Zones denied by Board of Supervisors – against the will of the people. Part 1 of 3
A large group of Concerned Redwood Valley Citizens, in an attempt to form a Cannabis Prohibition District close to downtown Redwood Valley, met with the Mendocino County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors in May and July of 2023. We paid a filing fee of $5,804 and spent over two years waiting to be scheduled on the agendas to be heard in order to defend our right to form this District under Mendocino County's Cannabis Ordinance 20.119.020. At the Planning hearing, it was reported that all minimum criteria established by the BOS to form this District had been met. At both meetings, numerous long-time Redwood Valley residents and vineyard owners spoke on how the influx of new large cannabis grows are negatively impacting our quality of life in the Valley and our concerns, first and foremost, of the strain on our local water supplies. Many other concerns were cited via 33 submitted letters. Our application was denied by a 3-2 vote. In favor were our 1st District Supervisor Glenn McGourty and 4th District Supervisor Dan Gjerde. Dissenting were Supervisors Hashack, Mulheren and Williams. A second request to form a Prohibition District from a Willits neighborhood was also denied by the Board of Supervisors a month after ours. They also paid a filing fee.
Our concerns with this process and the ultimate outcome are many. Despite our repeated emphasis that our concerns were over water, safety and the environment, the BOS reduced our concerns to basically one of smell only. Numerous parties spoke on behalf of the growers, yet we are hard pressed to find one who lives in this neighborhood. The three Supervisors who voted against us do not live in Redwood Valley. The two property owners and one manager of the grow sites operating within our proposed Prohibition district do not live in this neighborhood. Two allegedly are from Sonoma County. We guess those of us who reside here do not know what is in our own best interest and it doesn't matter that we bought our properties with the desire to enjoy peaceful lives in a beautiful rural area, free from "Commercial" industry. We question why commercial industry endeavors are not made to be located and run in commercial or industrial zones?
Why were local residents who have lived here and paid property taxes for decades not given notice or a voice regarding proposed changes to our beautiful area? What we are going through here in Mendocino County is sadly happening in many other Counties throughout California. It is all a huge failure that is profiting few and damaging our beautiful State and its resources. For local Redwood Valley residents, many of whom have lived here for decades, this denial was a slap in the face and far from a democratic process we expected and hoped for going in. We felt largely dismissed.
While Supervisors Gjerde and McGourty supported our request, they were outvoted by Supervisors Hashack, Mulheren and Williams, again none of whom live in Redwood Valley. The main outcomes of our hard work to gather signatures, raise funds and submit these applications were three-fold. First, the Board basically asked the Cannabis Department if the permits for the grows in question could be fast-tracked for approval. This despite one having been busted for growing illegally resulting in numerous SUVs and a helicopter swooping into the neighborhood unannounced, definitely a nuisance. Next, the Board ordered Code Enforcement to go out and inspect all our residential properties for illegal grows based on an aerial map the growers submitted. It was asserted by the BOS and the attorneys for the growers that it is presumably all the other small grows that are causing the problems. This despite testimony and letters provided to the contrary; that it is the two new big grows which are causing the most concern to nearby neighbors, and were specifically the impetus for us to request a Prohibition District. Finally, the BOS is now talking about amending the Opt-Out chapter of the Cannabis Ordinance to do away with citizens being able to collect signatures and submit an application on our own behalf directly to the Planning Department. A request would first have to go to a Supervisor who would then determine whether it should be considered. Why? It wasn't too long ago that the BOS passed an ordinance that expanded the allowable size of cultivation sites to 10 percent of a parcel's size. This action was repealed by the BOS after a grass roots referendum by concerned citizens collected approximately 6,000 signatures against it. Big monied growers, some from other Counties have been allowed in, paying cash for large local Ag parcels and have been allowed to grow with the County's blessing while their permits have not been approved but only "under review". This has been happening since approximately 2017. They are using resources and causing nuisances with little to no regard to the impact they are having on nearby long-time local residents.
Our applications and the combined $11,608. filings fees paid to the County was a Win-Win for these new growers who again do not reside in this area. We are very concerned about where Mendocino County is headed with regards to Cannabis and how certain Supervisors are attempting to squelch the voices of we, the people. We encourage anyone who would like to learn more about how Cannabis in this County is not working, to google Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall's interview with the Epoch Times. It speaks volumes as to the pitfalls and perils of promoting this type of "Commercial" industry. We did not ask for it in our neighborhoods and we do not want it. Part 2 to follow…
Concerned Redwood Valley Citizens (CRVC) Christine Boyd, Cynthia Grant, Star Gilley, Frances Owen, Richard Sagan, Cyndi Barra Woskow, Michael Woskow and others.
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