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East Oregonian
GROWER: Legality of marijuana odor ordinance in question
Continued from 1A
feeble attempt to discourage
marijuana use,” Roberts stated
in an email. “But nothing can
be further from the truth.”
He said Pendleton has
long had an odor ordinance
that
bans
“unreasonable
quantities of soot, cinders,
noxious acids, fumes or gases
to escape, causing harm to
another person or to the public
or endangering the health,
comfort and safety of any
person or the public, or permit
or cause materials to injure or
damage property or business.”
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that description when growers
dry the plant’s buds.
Woods said that is when the
plant is at its most pungent. He
said he snips off the marijuana
buds and hangs them to dry in
his house, which takes seven
or eight days. He uses fans
to help with the drying and to
push the odor outside. Woods
also said he cannot afford
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the smell.
Woods’ neighbor, Mike
Arbogast, claimed the drying
weed stunk up the air outside
his home and even seeped
into his clothes. Roberts said
Woods was not willing to
modify his operation to curtail
the odor and there were even
“threats of lawsuits, violence
and other unethical acts were
uttered/implied.”
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gave birth to the new city law.
“So let’s be clear, we are
not talking about the exhaling
of a drag from a marijuana
cigarette,” he said. “We are
talking about concentrated
odors, which are constantly
vented out of an enclosed
drying/growing area. There is
no opportunity for the odor to
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of the consistency in which the
air/odor is forced.”
But Pendleton attorney Will
Perkinson said the new law has
serious problems, starting with
the fact that it places restric-
tions on medicinal marijuana
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Medical
Marijuana Act.
That raises the legal issue of
preemption, he said, meaning
the existing state law preempts
the local law.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Woods grows a variety of strains of marijuana depending on the particular medical
needs of his clients.
“... We are not talking about the exhaling of a drag from a mari-
juana cigarette. We are talking about concentrated odors, which
are constantly vented out of an enclosed drying/growing area.”
— Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts
Pendleton’s law also lacks
a severability clause, he said,
which states if a portion of
a law is unconstitutional or
illegal, the rest of the law
remains in effect. Without that
clause, he said, Pendleton’s
law is valid in its entirety or
not at all.
“It ... unreasonably inter-
feres with the lawful produc-
tion and use of medicinal
marijuana,” Perkinson said.
Perkinson said he takes
Roberts at his word about the
purpose of the law, but how
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citizen interprets it is another
matter. Is smoke from a joint,
for example, a marijuana
product?
“I think that’s unclear,”
Perkinson said. “That’s an
area of ambiguity.”
The ordinance also places
the weight of proof on the nose
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asked how could someone
prove the odor did not escape,
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He said these ambiguities and
the possibility for wide appli-
long-discussed topics that
could see some action.
did mention the need for
After years of planning,
the fee to cover staff time to the city is set to consider a
process criminal background trio of utility master plans
checks.
that could raise rates for
The council amended the water and sewer and institute
zoning laws to allow medical fees.
marijuana dispensaries in
Over the next 10 years,
certain commercial zones a city consultant estimated
last month after a year-long Pendleton would need to
moratorium expired. But spend $56.9 million to
since the city’s current replace, maintain and add to
business license laws don’t the town’s water and sewer
allow businesses that are in infrastructure.
violation of federal law, city
In order to pay for the
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moratorium is effectively suggested doubling water
still in place until the city rates, raising sewer rates
changes its laws.
by 57 percent and creating
The workshop is sched- a systems development
uled for 6:30 p.m., just cost — a fee assessed to new
before the council’s regu- developments.
The stormwater utility,
larly scheduled meeting at 7
p.m. Although the council’s D ¿UVW IRU 3HQGOHWRQ ZRXOG
regular meeting has no mari- be used to improve, operate
juana-related issues on the and maintain the city-owned
agenda, it will feature other levees and the city’s storm-
Continued from 1A
cation make it a bad law.
“The city council should
just say no to new marijuana
laws,” he said.
Roberts said police will “try
to get the offender to modify
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the name of responsibility,
respect and fairness. Should
they choose not to comply, we
will (inform) the offended that
they can sign a complaint.”
He also said he did not
see this as a code or police
enforcement issue. Rather, the
ordinance allows residents to
sign a complaint, which police
would then serve.
“At that point,” Roberts
said, “the offended and
offender can have their argu-
ments heard by an indepen-
dent third party (i.e. municipal
judge).” It is unknown what
would qualify as evidence in
such a court.
Woods is also trying to
open a marijuana dispensary
on Tutuilla Road, not far from
his home, in one of the few
places city restrictions would
allow a dispensary.
water drainage system. For
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rate of $7.25 to help cover
the $7.5 million cost of
improving the system.
The consultants recom-
mended a portion of these
new revenue streams be
used to hire 11.5 new city
employees.
Although the city plans
to adopt the utility master
plans at the June 2 council
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any rate hikes or charges
would be decided upon at a
later date.
The city is also set to
adopt a $53.2 million budget
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Highlights
include
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position and three new
paramedic positions. Both
meetings will be held at the
council chambers in city hall,
500 S.W. Dorion Avenue.
BOUNDARY: New buildings will have larger capacities
28th Street.
All students living east of
Southgate and south of Inter-
state Highway 84 are within
McKay Creek Elementary
School boundaries. Children
that live west of Southgate
and south of Southwest 37th
Street will also attend McKay
under the proposal.
For district students
living east of Pendleton,
including those on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation,
Interstate Highway 84 acts
as a clear-cut boundary
— children living north of
Interstate Highway 84 attend
Washington while students
living south of the highway
go to McKay Creek.
Superintendent
Jon
Peterson
selected
the
proposed boundary map after
a lengthy process.
The district originally
formed
a
committee
comprised of parents, prin-
cipals and a Mid Columbia
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them with considering seven
boundary map options.
The committee whittled
the options down to two,
which were presented to the
public through a series of
FIRE: The X factor
will be lightning
Continued from 1A
COUNCIL: Set to adopt $53.2M budget for 2015-16
Continued from 1A
Saturday, May 30, 2015
public meetings in late April
and early May.
The parents’ input was
then turned over to Super-
intendent Jon Peterson, who
used it as a factor in his
decision.
The district is redrawing
district boundaries as new
facilities for Washington and
Sherwood Heights are being
built.
The new buildings will
have
larger
capacities,
allowing the district to
consolidate Lincoln Primary
School and West Hills Inter-
mediate School. After the
new Washington and Sher-
wood Heights are completed
in 2016, Lincoln will be
repurposed into the district’s
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will become an alternative
school and career-technical
education center.
Starting next year, all
current elementary schools
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kindergarten students will
be centrally located at the
Pendleton Early Learning
Center, formerly Hawthorne
Alternative High School.
The proposal will be
considered for approval at
the Pendleton School Board
meeting Monday at 6:00
p.m. The board meeting is at
the Intermountain Education
Service District Lodgepole
Room, 2001 S.W. Nye Ave.
For more information,
FRQWDFW WKH GLVWULFW RI¿FH DW
541-276-6711.
Karaoke with Ron Martin!
A local favorite
May 30, 7 pm - 10 pm
In the Red Lion Lounge
304 SE Nye, Pendleton
541-276-6111
He said he lost his job
driving bus for the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation after
seeking medical marijuana
patients on Facebook, then
health problems prevented
him from driving commer-
cially, so he opted to go into
business for himself.
Though he has a location
and put up signs advertising
the business, he is not in
operation. Woods said he is
negotiating with vendors and
the store might not open for a
month.
Other city regulations
allow dispensaries to operate
in certain zones and not within
1,000 feet of parks, schools or
another dispensary. Whoever
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Tutuilla will have a lock on
that area.
As long as it doesn’t stink,
or someone complains that it
does.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0833.
temperatures, according to the Northwest Inter-
agency Coordination Center in Portland. By July
and August, Oregon and Washington should see
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heat, drought and low snowpack.
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in the Northeast Oregon District — the third-ear-
liest start to a season since 1977. It could be even
earlier this year, Williams said.
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danger is the grasses haven’t cured yet,” he said.
“As soon as those get cured out and ready to burn,
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The Northeast Oregon District is responsible
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acres of mostly private and some public range-
land in Umatilla, Union, Baker, Wallowa, Grant,
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is declared, landowners will need to obtain burn
permits from ODF and face restrictions on activi-
ties such as smoking, chainsaws and certain types
of ammunition.
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the energy release component, or ERC, of forest
fuels. Foresters calculate ERC based on a number
of weather-related factors, such as temperature,
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A typical ERC for forests this time of year is
35, Williams said. The actual number was already
as high as 50 in early May in some areas, before
much-needed rains pushed the levels back down
to normal.
However, Williams expects conditions to
quickly dry up again. He said the district should
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Oregon University.
Meanwhile, the district has already responded
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about 40 acres.
“With the dry conditions, people need to be
safe and responsible, and realize they could
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Williams said.
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acres in 2014, compared to the 10-year average of
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The U.S. Forest Service does not declare
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agency does implement public use restrictions on
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The X factor, Ruby said, will be lightning.
“That’s going to tell the tale, if the lightning
comes in wet storms or dry storms,” he said. “But
the fuel conditions will certainly be conducive.”
———
Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastore-
gonian.com or 541-564-4547.