Wednesday, July 12, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
MARIJUANA: Large-scale
operations in conflict
with rural values
Continued from page 17
Kathy Escott, secretary of the
Williams Grange. “And the
greenhouses they’re building,
with concrete or gravel floors,
are literally like paving over
farmland.”
For many residents, the
increased traffic generated by
these grow sites on rural roads
poses a danger to children.
“Usually it’s newcomers
that just don’t get it,” Escott
said. “They’re not part of the
community.”
Escott said the fences have
become a problem for wild-
life, particularly deer that
cross roads to get to creeks
and now find barriers block-
ing their way.
A licensed recreational
grow known as ShadowBox
Farms has been a lightning
rod for neighbor complaints.
Six months ago, the grow
site was criticized because of
noise from its fans, said Dani
Jurmann, chief executive offi-
cer of Shadowbox.
When new fans were
installed, the complaints
shifted to the long fence, he
said. Trees have been planted
in front of the fence, and in a
few years they will obscure
the fence from view.
“We’ve done everything
we can possibly do,” Jurmann
said. “I really do believe in a
couple of years, we will be all
but forgotten.”
Right now there is a lot of
truck traffic delivering mate-
rials for drying sheds and
other buildings. Once they’re
completed, he said, the traffic
will be less than 10 percent of
what it is now.
Jurmann said he and three
families invested in the can-
nabis enterprise and bought
32 acres zoned exclusive
farm use. They have two
40,000-square-foot green-
house operations on two sepa-
rate tax lots. Under Oregon
law, farmland is allowed to
generate noise, dust and other
issues that may bother neigh-
bors. Surrounding Jurmann’s
farm are properties zoned
rural residential.
He said the families
invested close to $1 million
for the property and spent
far more than $250,000 into
the operation, which he said
pumps a lot of money into
the local economy. He said he
doesn’t want to see any rules
that sharply curtail the ability
to operate a successful agri-
cultural venture on farmland.
“I lose sleep about the 70
or 80 people who will lose
their jobs,” he said.
Jurmann said he person-
ally wouldn’t vote for a mora-
torium that would block cer-
tain activities of new cannabis
businesses.
“My feeling is it is a lost
cause,” he said. “I think it’s an
interesting concept if a town
like Williams wants to change
state law. It’s a noble pursuit.”
But he said farmers can’t
be deprived of the essential
tools needed to succeed.
“Greenhouses are a part of
farming, and fans are a part of
greenhouses,” he said.
Mika Smith, vice chair of
the Williams Town Council
and Community Advisory
Committee, said his commu-
nity would like to develop
local controls and local solu-
tions to deal with the impact
of this style of agriculture.
“We want reasonable regu-
lations so when people come
here they know what to do,”
Smith said. “People care about
the land and quality of life out
here and are concerned about
the industrialization of our
farmland.”
Some of the friction has
developed because large-
scale growers don’t take into
account the impact of their
operation on surrounding
property owners.
One large-scale grower
removed a series of berms that
prevented water from flood-
ing a neighboring property,
Smith said.
He said at least two law-
suits have been filed over
these neighbor disputes.
Other issues could be
resolved by improving state
regulations. While many
growers have wooden fences,
Smith said it’s possible to
get approval from the state
to install deer fencing, which
many find more attractive.
He said these options need
to be clearer for prospective
growers.
Smith said he is working
with legislators to develop
some regulations that could
help Williams and other
communities.
Some local business own-
ers have seen a surge in cus-
tomers from large commercial
grow sites, but not others.
Rebekah Rumery, owner
of Takubeh Natural Market
& Agricultural Supply, said
the big conglomerates that are
behind some of the large grow
sites have not become part of
the community.
Rumery said her store
hasn’t seen a big influx of
business from the large grows,
though one of her customers
does have a large grow site.
“It is challenging for us to
see, because those big cor-
porations are not supporting
small business,” she said.
Instead, many of the big
operations order their equip-
ment from large supply houses
and have them delivered by
semi-truck, Rumery said.
She said Williams is partic-
ularly concerned about these
issues that also affect many
areas of Oregon because
many of the local residents are
active environmentalists and
take pride in living in a com-
munity that exists with nature.
25
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