30 Deschutes Co. marijuana facilities pending

With a dozen marijuana facilities in place and 30 more seeking approval, Deschutes County is taking another look at its regulations and deciding how to best move forward, balancing the property rights of growers and processors with those of neighbors.

County officials are trying to decide where more marijuana grows should be placed, or if they should be allowed at all.

Commissioners held a work session Monday afternoon to continue their recent discussions about code enforcement of marijuana grows.

Nick Lelack. the county’s community development director, said they’re working to try to find some common ground.

Right now, Lelack said, the code enforcement is complaint-based, meaning violations have to be reported to them, in order for them to act.

The county could “more actively” search out violations, he told commissioners.

“I think it is a part of our community,” Lelack said. “And I think that we have our regulations in place, and our current evaluations of our regulations will hopefully determine if they are working or they’re not, if they need to be strengthened, if they need to be streamlined, if they need to be changed in one way or an other.”

Under current rules, a violation that’s reported to the county caries with it a potential $2,000 fine.

There are currently fewer than a dozen licensed recreation marijuana grows in Deschutes County, but there are about 30 pending applications for new grows.

And the sheriff’s office is looking at how they enforce laws surrounding marijuana.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office has some big concerns about marijuana grows that are already in the county.

Sheriff Shane Nelson said it’s a difficult set of issues to tackle, but he feels that these grows should not be in the county.

He said his department takes code enforcement of marijuana grows very seriously, but the bottom line is that he would like to see them moved elsewhere.

“I don’t want marijuana grows in the county. That’s the fact of the matter. I think it’s a livability issue, and I know and have heard from numerous concerned citizens that don’t want it here either,” Nelson said. “What our office is going to do is, I want to be as proactive as possible in responding to every call for service that deals with marijuana.”

Nelson also said that with the budget that he has to work with, they don’t have enough resources to deal with issues that arise from surrounding marijuana grows.

He noted that marijuana is still not legal under federal law, and he is frustrated that his resources are being stretched to deal with such an issue.

Bill Tye, who lives in Alfalfa near a marijuana grow, said it’s something he doesn’t want to see in the county.

Tye said he and his neighbors have seen six wells run dry since a grow went in nearby.

He doesn’t think there might be some sort of an agreement that could be reached in regards to pot grows.

“I think it’s doubtful,” he said. “We just don’t like the product and them being there. They ought to be, I don’t know, some place else, way out in the county, where they’re not among these residents.”

Tye also said the growers have not been good neighbors, as they had promised.

He added that these meetings are important for their cause, because he feels they are being heard, but that the rules in the county are too relaxed and need to be more firm.

The county will hold another work session next week to discuss issues surrounding grows with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.