SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2015
Council
for residential zones, with a
300-foot buffer, 400-foot buffer
for public parks, 500-foot
buffer from public libraries and
child care facilities licensed by
the Oregon Department of
Education and a 1,000-foot
buffer from public or private
schools attended primarily by
minors.
Councilor George Lyddon
said, “You’ve done a great job
putting together an impossible
situation. I think your recom-
mendation seems quite solid.”
The other council members
agreed that they were apprecia-
tive of the work done, but that
is where the unanimous agree-
ments marking most of their
2015 decisions ended.
The first issue was that the
current council had not gotten a
chance to address the moratori-
um.
“We need to have this con-
versation,” said Councilor
Joshua Greene to his col-
leagues.
To Farley he said, “You’ve
done an amazing job and I
actually feel horrible that you
have gone to this much detail to
do something like this without
us having a proper work ses-
sion as a group to talk about
this.”
Councilor
Susy
Lacer
affirmed this.
“This is the first time this
issue has come to this council,”
she said. “It’s really unfortu-
nate that the timing worked out
(this way). … We have not, as a
body, had a chance to discuss
this issue and where we’d like
to go with it.”
The next issue was concern-
ing the city’s stance on medical
marijuana.
Councilor Greene said, “I
have this feeling when I look at
this documentation that we
really don’t want to support this
endeavor. The City of Florence
doesn’t want medical marijua-
na anywhere near it, so we’re
going to make it so unattractive
that no one’s going to come
near it. I think the bigger con-
versation is: Is that the position
we want to take?”
He went on to say, “Medical
marijuana is not a gateway
drug to heroin. It doesn’t bring
a bad element of seedy, greedy,
terrible, low-life drug users
hanging around a building. A
medical marijuana dispensary
is, by state law, … very clean.
Not stinky and toxic.”
Greene also brought up the
restrictions in place already on
medical marijuana dispensaries
and those eligible to access
marijuana for medical reasons.
Councilor Ron Preisler said,
“I happen to think medical
marijuana is an extremely
important issue. … I see a lot of
people and a lot of patients that
are in conditions that they need
medical marijuana. It gives
them quality of life that they
don’t have.”
“I agree with Councilor
Preisler that medical marijuana
is very important to many in
our community,” said Lacer.
Greene also wanted to con-
sider the impact of medical
marijuana facilities as a busi-
ness.
“This is a real thing that is
happening around the world.
It’s happening in our country
now,” he said.
“I’m trying to take the stig-
ma off of this and have us look
at this as an opportunity for
economic development.”
Lacer said, “The planning
commission’s recommendation
for allowable siting is too
restrictive, in part because of
the limitations on available
land and in equal part, because
as a body this council is very
pro-economic development.
And under Chapter 9 of our
2020 plan, regarding economic
development, it says: ‘encour-
age actions and activities to
promote the availability of new
employment in the communi-
ty.’ And, with this (much)
restriction, I don’t believe that
we are meeting that criteria.”
“There’s an opportunity,”
Greene added. “We’re not
doing the work we need to do
to prepare for the future. The
very thing we keep talking
about is we’re not creating
businesses for people who want
to live here or raise their family
here. Crazy as this sounds to
some of us, this is a small busi-
ness.”
Mayor Joe Henry brought
the conversation to the final
issue, saying, “This is not the
first discussion we’ve had
about this. And now, you’re
making a case for economic
development and a whole num-
ber of other things. … What
we’re talking about is medical
marijuana. And we’re operat-
ing under a deadline.”
Lyddon said, “This council is
charged at this time to act on
information we have, the rec-
ommendations that we have
based on the committee, the
planning commission’s recom-
mendation. … It’s our duty to
go with the recommendation or
not, and to perform the work of
the citizens. … Based on what
we have, I’m satisfied with the
recommendation.”
Greene countered with his
concern, again, for the too-
strict restrictions outlined in the
proposal.
“Are we going to kick it
north of town and make it
impossible to be attractive?
What is that really saying?”
He ended his argument with
a plea to the mayor and the
other councilors.
“May I make the recommen-
dation that we visit a dispensa-
ry, or at least get footage of a
video if it’s legally accessible?”
he asked.
Mayor Henry responded,
“What you do in your spare
time is up to you. I don’t share
your views on medical or recre-
ational marijuana and I don’t
intend to visit a medical mari-
juana facility. We all may have
differing views on this.”
The council ended the public
hearing with Henry entertain-
ing a motion to hold a council
work session with the planning
commission and staff, which
the council agreed upon.
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