Lompoc banned all cultivation of marijuana one year ago but the City Council introduced an ordinance on Dec. 20 that would allow for personal indoor cultivation. The ordinance follows the passage of voter-approved Proposition 64, or the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), which legalized recreational marijuana in California.
While the new law gives adults 21 and older the freedom to possess and grow recreational marijuana statewide, AUMA isn’t exactly a weed free-for-all.
Lompoc City Attorney Joseph Pannone told the Sun that the new ordinance was drafted to fall in line with the new law, which gives citizens the right to grow up to six plants in a private home while allowing the city to still retain the powers of regulation and ultimately the interpretation of the law.
“The city still retains authority to say that the cultivation can be done indoors,” Pannone said.
Lompoc previously banned all cultivation of marijuana—including for medical purposes—in December 2015 following the passage of the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA) a few months prior. The MMRSA put local jurisdictions on a timeline to enact their own laws before state law pre-empted them.
While AUMA permits “an individual” to grow up to six plants in a “private home,” Pannone said the new city ordinance only allows six plants per household, regardless of the number of people living there.
Annual permits from the police and fire departments, as well as a building permit, would be required in order to grow, Pannone said. Permits cost had not yet been determined as of press time.
If a residence’s occupants are renting, either the building owner or occupants may apply for permits, according to the Lompoc City Council’s staff report on the ordinance.
Under the ordinance, plants could either be grown in a room or in an enclosed structure outside the residence. Cultivation rights strictly apply to single-family dwellings, Pannone said, although the Compassionate Use Act (CUA) of 1996—which essentially legalized medical marijuana—allows patients to grow up to six plants inside an apartment.
If there’s more than one occupant and one of them is a CUA patient, then the patient takes precedence and the other occupant isn’t allowed to grow, Pannone said.
Penalties for violating the ordinance range from community service to as much as $250 per violation, according to the staff report.
Certain plans and specifications must be met, particularly for indoor electrical systems, and an inspection is required in order to receive a permit, according to the staff report.
House fires became a particular concern for Lompoc Fire Department Chief Kurt Latipow following a fire caused by an indoor marijuana grow at 1040 N. Jasmine St. in February 2015. In this case, a 20-amp breaker was replaced with a 30-amp breaker, which overheated the wires that caused the fire.
“The electrical system in your home is designed for a very specific draw that’s related to appliances, lighting, etc.,” Latipow said.
That fire was the first of its kind for Lompoc, but Latipow has seen it many times as a fire chief in Ukiah, where a marijuana industry has thrived for years.
Provided that the city adopts the ordinance, according to Pannone, it won’t become legal until 30 days after its second reading—which wouldn’t be until at least February 2017.
This article appears in Dec 22-29, 2016.