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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 Voting ‘yes’ could cost Cannon Beach tax revenue Uncertain future for pot sales By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH —The future of cannabis in Can- non Beach has a number, and it’s not 420. Measure 4-179 prohibiting the sale of rec- reational marijuana in Can- non Beach is oficially on the November ballot, with the question: “Shall recreational marijuana producers, proces- sors, wholesalers, and retailers be prohibited in Cannon Beach?” “Language was approved for the ballot,” Cannon Beach City Manager Brant Kucera said Wednesday. “This bill is to disallow.” A separate vote initiated by the city, Measure 4-182, will ask residents if a 3 percent tax should be applied to recreational marijuana sales. Measure 91, which legalized recreational marijuana in Ore- gon for people 21 and older, was approved by 63 percent of Can- non Beach voters in 2014. In early July, the City Coun- cil voted 4-1 to adopt an ordi- nance with time, place and man- ner restrictions for medical and recreational marijuana busi- nesses. Zones are downtown from Ecola Creek on the north to Washington Street on the south, midtown from Harrison Street on the north to Elliot Way on the south, and Tolovana Park from Delta Street on the north to the northern boundary of Sand Castle Condominiums on the south. Later that month, a group of residents successfully submit- ted a petition with 155 certi- ied signatures to put an initia- tive on the ballot asking voters if recreational marijuana shops should be banned. Jeremy Randolph, Marlene Laws, Nancy Giasson, Gary Laws and Molly Edison formed the committee that brought the opt-out initiative to the city. The ballot measure is summarized on the county Board of Elections website. “State law allows operation of licensed recreational mar- ijuana producers, processors, wholesalers and retailers,” reads the summary. “State law also provides that the citizens may put forth an initiative to the voters to prohibit the estab- lishment of any of those facil- ities within the city’s bound- aries. The citizen petitioners have put forth such an initia- tive to the voters of Cannon Beach in this election.” If approved, the city will be ineligible to receive distri- bution of state marijuana tax revenue and unable to impose local cannabis taxes or fees. Under state law, a city that adopts an ordinance prohibit- ing the establishment of one or more types of marijuana facili- ties in the city may not impose a local tax on the sale of mari- juana items. The city’s separate local tax measure imposing a 3 per- cent tax on the sale of rec- reational marijuana would become operative only if the tax measure is approved by voters and the measure pro- hibiting marijuana facilities fails. The tax would be collected at the point of sale and remit- ted by the retailers. Apparently cannabis retail- ers are waiting until after the election before applying for a business license. “I’ve had maybe two calls in the last six months,” Kucera said. In Jewell, a license to grow Warrenton woman sentenced State approves commercial marijuana grow operation By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The state has approved Clatsop County’s irst com- mercial marijuana grow operation. The Oregon Liquor Con- trol Commission recently approved Greenworks Farms, located in Jewell and run by husband and wife Joe Ander- son and Cathleen Harwood. “The process, it’s lengthy for sure,” he said. “There’s a lot of documents. You need to have all your ducks in a row.” Greenworks Farms is authorized to grow canna- bis on up to 5,000 square feet of indoor production. Ander- son said he spent months and about $20,000 getting a 1,000-square-foot, state-ap- proved grow facility. Require- ments include a security sys- tem and surveillance video that can be backed up for 90 days. “There’s no place you can go in the facility that’s not on camera,” he said. Greenworks’ marijuana will be tagged and tracked from seed to sale. Anderson said it prevents marijuana from being diverted to the black market. Despite the dificulties in applying, he said the state was supportive throughout the process. “The OLCC seemed very helpful,” he said. “They don’t want to stand in the way of this.” Anderson, a former cab- inet maker who injured his back and started using mar- ijuana as pain medicine, has been growing medical mari- juana since 2001. He and his wife have grown for other medical patients. Anderson said he is proud to be part of the Oregon movement beyond prohibi- tion. He also hopes Green- works Farms will prove a lucrative business. Waiting on buyers But Greenworks Farms, like other approved commer- cial growers, is waiting on buyers. A state law passed last year allowed medical mar- ijuana dispensaries to sell marijuana to recreational cus- tomers through December. As of next year, medical dispen- saries will again be limited to members of the Oregon Med- ical Marijuana Program and their caregivers. The state Liquor Control Commission started taking applications for recreational marijuana stores in January and aims to have them oper- ational by the end of the year. “We all right now are in the waiting game, waiting on the OLCC to review all the applications, and waiting for conirmation to go for- ward,” said Gary Reynolds, co-owner of Sweet Relief Natural Medicine. The dispensary, the irst to open in the county, now has two locations in Astoria and one each in Tillamook, Scap- poose and St. Helens. Reyn- olds said the company has applied to go recreational at all but one of its ive locations. Other grow sites Reynolds said Sweet Relief is also one of the com- panies trying to establish its own commercial growing operation outside city limits. The state has received six applications so far from groups wanting to grow mar- ijuana commercially in the county, including Green- works Farms, and six more applications from medical dispensaries wanting to go recreational. The Astoria Planning Commission has signed off on two commercial grow operations within city limits. for stealing from her father Took money and a truck By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian A 35-year-old Warren- ton woman was sentenced to five years in prison Wednes- day for stealing about $29,000 and a pickup truck from her father while he was in the hospital. After a trial in Cir- cuit Court last month, a jury found Kaili Jo Rob- erts guilty on eight counts. The charges include three counts of first-degree crim- inal mistreatment, aggra- vated first-degree theft, two counts of first-degree theft, second-degree theft and first-degree forgery. Roberts could have received a shorter sentence, but it was discovered that she lied while testifying during trial. She claimed a large amount of the money she stole was in a safety security box at a bank. When the box was searched, it was completely empty. Instead of a separate charge for perjury, Roberts received an enhancement on her sentence. Roberts’ defense at trial was that her father the power of attor- told her to go ahead ney gave her for and use his credit her own gain,” card accounts and Deputy District his money to shop Attorney Beau and buy items. Her Peterson said. father, James Rob- James Rob- erts, testiied at erts spoke at the trial that he turned sentencing hear- the power of attor- ing Wednesday, ney over to her to Kaili Jo Roberts and expressed his make sure she paid love and support his rent and car for his daugh- payments, not to go out and ter, despite what she did to spend his money. The crimes him. occurred between February “I love you a lot. I’m and April 2015. sorry this happened,” he “She used the authority said. C latsop Post 12 Septem ber O ktober Fest A M ER ICA N LEG IO N D AY PO W /M IA D AY G ER M A N SA U SA G ES, SA U ER K R A U T, G ER M A N PO TA TO SA LA D A N D BR EA D S Friday Friday Sept. 16 th Sept. 16 th 4 pm ‘til gone $8 .00 6PM PO W /M IA Cerem ony “K araoke D ave” to follow ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION Clatsop Post 12 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 W ELCO M E TO A LL V ETER A N S, FA M ILIES O F A N D FR IEN D S HEALTH NOTIFICATION Are You Hard of Hearing? 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