The Bulletin., January 13, 2022, Page 3, Image 3

The BulleTin • Thursday, January 13, 2022 A3
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
ILLEGAL POT FARMS | SOUTHERN OREGON
Landowners fined for violations committed on property
BY SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN
Capital Press
EAGLE POINT — Jackson County
is fining a Southern Oregon cattle and
hay ranching couple $150,000 for land
use violations committed on their
farm by an illegal marijuana grower
they leased land to who allegedly
posed as an industrial hemp grower.
The couple, Jerry Wetzel, 78, and
Gloria Wetzel, 76, plan to appeal,
saying they did not know the tenant
lacked licenses and the tenant claimed
to be growing legal hemp.
Land use experts say cases like this
are common statewide, especially in
Southern Oregon.
According to Jackson County Sher-
iff Nate Sickler, the county is “find-
ing many land leasers have been less
than honest with the property own-
ers about what they are cultivating, as
well as what permitting and licensing
have been obtained.”
“Sometimes landowners know
exactly what they were doing and
then try to put all the blame on the
growers. Other times, it’s clear the
landowners are clueless,” said Roger
Pearce, land use attorney and Jackson
County hearings officer.
Whether landowners knew they
were leasing to an illegal operation or
not, Pearce and Sickler say they may
be liable for violations under state and
county law.
In the Wetzel case, according to
sierra dawn McClain/Capital Press
Jerry and Gloria Wetzel, longtime cattle ranchers, drive to a piece of acreage they own
that they leased out last year, about a 10-minute utility vehicle drive from their house.
Jackson County public records, on
June 10, Oregon State Police raided
the Wetzels’ home after obtaining a
search warrant.
Officers entered the house with
guns, searched for evidence and
seized property. The Wetzels say they
were frightened while handcuffed for
about four hours.
“They searched this place from top
to bottom,” said Gloria Wetzel, eyes
watering.
During the raid, the tenant and his
workers fled the approximately 2-acre
grow site leased from the Wetzels far
from the couple’s residence.
Using equipment designed to detect
THC levels, Oregon State Police de-
termined the operation was growing
marijuana.
Mark Taylor, founding board mem-
ber of the Southern Oregon Hemp
Co-Op, said he knows the Wetzels
to be “honorable people” and said he
feels it was inappropriate for officers
to raid the home of the landowners
rather than targeting the tenant’s grow
site.
Oregon investigates allegations of fake COVID-19 testing kits for self-administered rapid
Oregon officials are scru-
tinizing a coronavirus testing
company for possible viola-
tions of a law protecting con-
sumers against deceptive busi-
ness practices.
The Oregon Department
of Justice launched a civil in-
vestigation into the Center for
Covid Control this week — af-
ter media reports in Texas and
Florida accused the company
of faking lab results and not
disclosing data to public health
agencies.
One of two Oregonians who
has lodged a formal consumer
complaint about the company
said staff working out of a tent
in a southeast Portland con-
venience store parking lot in
September gave her nasal swab
and PCR tests.
The woman said that when
she got back to her car, she no-
ticed the rapid test had expired
months earlier.
The woman also complained
that staff kept completed PCR
tests, which must be sent away
for laboratory testing, stowed
in a crate left outdoors on a
hot day.
The other complainant said
Taylor said he is also upset that the
couple is being fined for violations
committed by the lessee.
“The whole case
smells of govern-
ment overreach,” he
said.
Jerry Wetzel said
that when he and
Gloria started leas-
ing acreage to some-
Jerry Wetzel
one they thought
was a hemp grower
in 2020, they knew hemp was legal in
Oregon but did not know operations
required permitting. Thus, they didn’t
ask to see permits.
The illegal grower, at his own ex-
pense, constructed 54 greenhouses
and installed electricity, also without
permits. The lessee, Jerry Wetzel said,
told him the structures were tempo-
rary.
“We weren’t told to ask for a license
to prove it’s legal hemp or legal green-
house(s),” he said.
When the growers fled, the Wetzels
were stuck with the fine.
The Wetzels say they believe laws
that punish landowners regardless of
intent for the actions of their lessees
are unjust.
Annick Goldsmith, the hemp co-
op’s small farms adviser, said she be-
lieves the county shouldn’t “cast such
a wide net that (it) victimize(s) people
like Jerry and Gloria.”
she didn’t receive the results of
a PCR test within 72 hours, as
was advertised.
The Center for Covid Con-
trol lists more than 300 testing
sites on its website, including
two each in Portland and Salem
and one in Tigard. Several visi-
tors drove away empty-handed
Tuesday after visiting the com-
pany’s site off NE Sandy Bou-
levard, where a makeshift sign
taped to the graffiti-coated
Land use experts, however, say lia-
bility laws placing the burden on the
property owner are standard.
“It’s pretty straightforward. In most
cases, ultimately the person who owns
land is responsible for compliance with
all laws that deal with the use of that
land,” said Jim Johnson, land use and
water planning coordinator for the Or-
egon Department of Agriculture.
Pearce, the attorney, said landown-
ers may be held liable for state and
county violations, potentially for pol-
lution, illegal water uses, construction
of unpermitted structures and failure
to register farm labor camps.
Sickler, the sheriff, said landowners
should verify an operation is legiti-
mate “to prevent a criminal organi-
zation from setting up shop in our
county.”
The Wetzels say they thought they
had taken sufficient precautions be-
cause they were not business partners
of the tenant and had worked with an
attorney to create a lease agreement
in 2020 to protect the farm’s interests.
The lease stated no illegal activities
would be allowed.
Now, the Wetzels say, they wish they
had also known to ask for permits.
They, along with Taylor of the co-op,
advise landowners to check permits,
conduct a background check, ask for
an up-front security deposit and en-
gage a seasoned real estate attorney be-
fore leasing to hemp growers.
storefront stated: “sorry we are
out of tests.”
“Let me be very clear — we
are absolutely not conducting
fake tests,” a company spokes-
person said in a statement to
Willamette Week, which first
reported the investigation.
“Our employees and the em-
ployees of our independent
operators are risking their lives
everyday to provide testing for
patients.”
The company did not re-
spond to questions from
The Oregonian. The Ore-
gon Health Authority did not
immediately respond when
asked if the company’s results
were used in the state’s daily
COVID-19 case counts.
The state Department of Jus-
tice investigation is probing for
potential violations of the Un-
fair Trade Practices Act.
— The Oregonian
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