Proposed marijuana grow denied north of Bend

Deschutes County is still deciding how it is going to deal with proposed marijuana grow operations.

A request to approve a new marijuana grow on Harper Road north of Bend was ultimately denied by county commissioners on Monday.

The county is still working to determine a way to best deal with marijuana grow applications.

Chris Baker, owner of the site of the proposed marijuana operation, said it has become very frustrating for him to go through this process, especially since he is trying to do things by the book — and the county is not making it easy.

“We do understand the process, and that it has to be approved by the planners,” Baker said. “But basically, what we are is we own an agriculturally zoned piece of property, and we would just like to do a little farming of a product that’s now legal in the state.”

Baker added that he understands the concerns commissioners have about the grow, but said they have tacked on arbitrary standards for this particular application.

Commissioners voted to deny Baker’s application as it stands now, but the decision won’t be official until next week when it is signed.

Commissioners look at several factors when it comes to marijuana grow applications, such as the location of the grow, other uses of the land, access for first responders to the area, noise created by the grow and odors.

In this case, commissioners said they were not too concerned with those factors. Instead, they found the setbacks on the land to be too close to other properties surrounding the proposed site.

In the end, commissioners voted to deny the grow at this time and said they plan to make that vote official next week when it is signed.

From there, an appeals process can begin, and according to the owner of this particular Bend property, that step is likely.

Baker said they have tried to do everything by the book and follow the rules, yet they have had no success in being able to farm marijuana on their property.

Baker added there are many people who have set up illegal grows, and that is also having a negative effect on the industry.

“We’re trying to do everything correctly, and our grow is so small that nobody, literally nobody would even know that it was there,” Baker said. “So we feel as though we are complying with the spirit of the rules.”

Baker said he will now have to take a hard look at the appeals process and see if it is financially smart to move in that direction.

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