Landowners pay a stiff price
STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, January 26, 2022
A7
Couple fi ned for
violations committed
on their land by
illegal pot growers
By SIERRA DAWN
McCLAIN
Capital Press
EAGLE POINT — Jack-
son County Code Enforce-
ment is fi ning a Southern Ore-
gon cattle and hay ranching
couple $150,000 for land use
violations committed on their
farm by an illegal marijuana
grower who allegedly posed
as an industrial hemp grower
when he leased their land.
The couple, Jerry Wetzel,
78, and Gloria Wetzel, 76,
plan to appeal, saying they
did not know the tenant lacked
licenses and that the tenant
claimed to be growing legal
hemp.
Land use experts say cases
like this are common state-
wide, especially in Southern
Oregon.
According to Jackson
County Sheriff Nate Sickler,
the county is “fi nding many
land leasers have been less
than honest with the property
owners about what they are
cultivating, as well as what
permitting and licensing have
been obtained.”
“Sometimes
landown-
ers know exactly what they
were doing and then try to
put all the blame on the grow-
ers. Other times, it’s clear the
landowners are clueless,” said
Roger Pearce, land use attor-
ney and Jackson County hear-
Omicron
wave may
be close to
cresting in
Oregon
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — The omicron
variant wave of COVID-
19 will peak over the next
two weeks and begin a steep
decline, according to a new
Oregon state forecast.
The Oregon Health & Sci-
ence University late Thursday,
Jan. 20, projected hospitaliza-
tions will likely peak on Tues-
day, Feb. 1, at 1,553 COVID-
19 patients.
“Oregon appears to be fl at-
tening the curve of hospital-
ized patients,” the report said.
“Infections are likely to peak
in the next week and hospital-
izations the week after.”
The forecast came as the
state continues to see key
numbers climb. The number
of people in Oregon hospitals
with COVID-19 was 981 as of
Jan. 20 — 204 more than the
week before.
Protective
measures
against COVID-19 con-
tinue to suppress seasonal fl u
cases. There were 38 cases
reported last week, compared
with 1,461 in a similar week
in 2020, just before the pan-
demic reached Oregon.
Other fi ndings:
• Case counts and test pos-
itivity remain at record lev-
els. The proportion of cases
reported as positive was 27%
on Thursday, Jan. 20.
• While new infections
were still rising quickly, the
percentage of the most severe
cases held steady. As of Jan
18, 25% of Oregon’s occu-
pied ICU beds had COVID-19
patients, similar to the week
before.
• The number of children
in Oregon hospitals remains
“volatile and high,” with 23
as of Jan. 18. Oregon has a
low rate of pediatric cases
compared to the majority of
states.
The New York Times said
Thursday, Jan. 20, that state
and local health agencies
reported 753,990 new cases,
up 29% from two weeks
ago. Hospitals had 158,638
COVID-19 positive patients,
up 48% from two weeks ago,
the newspaper reported.
Oregon ranked 11th lowest
in cases per 100,000 residents
among the 50 states.
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.
ings offi cer.
Whether
landowners
knew
they
were leasing
to an illegal
operation or
Wetzel
not, Pearce
and Sickler
say they may be liable for vio-
lations under state and county
law.
In the Wetzel case, accord-
ing to Jackson County pub-
lic records, on June 10, 2021,
Oregon State Police raided the
Wetzels’ home after obtaining
a search warrant.
Offi cers entered the house
with guns drawn, searched for
evidence and seized property.
The Wetzels say they were
frightened while handcuff ed
for about four hours.
“They searched this place
from top to bottom,” said Glo-
ria Wetzel, her eyes watering.
During the raid, the tenant
and his workers fl ed the
approximately 2-acre grow
site leased from the Wet-
zels far from the couple’s
residence.
Using equipment designed
to detect THC levels, Ore-
gon State Police determined
the operation was growing
marijuana.
Mark Taylor, founding
board member of the Southern
Oregon Hemp Co-Op, said he
knows the Wetzels to be “hon-
orable people” and said he
feels it was inappropriate for
offi cers to raid the home of the
landowners rather than target-
ing the tenant’s grow site.
Taylor said he is also upset
that the couple is being fi ned
for violations committed by
the lessee.
“The whole case smells of
government overreach,” he
said.
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Jerry and Gloria Wetzel take a walk on their farm property.
Jerry Wetzel said that when
he and Gloria started leas-
ing acreage to someone they
thought was a hemp grower
in 2020, they knew hemp was
legal in Oregon but did not
know operations required per-
mitting. Thus, they didn’t ask
to see permits.
The illegal grower, at his
own expense, constructed
54 greenhouses and installed
electricity, also without per-
mits. The lessee, Jerry Wetzel
said, told him the structures
were temporary.
“We weren’t told to ask
for a license to prove it’s legal
hemp or legal greenhouse(s),”
he said.
When the growers fl ed, the
Wetzels were stuck with the
fi ne.
The Wetzels say they
believe laws that punish land-
owners regardless of intent for
the actions of their lessees are
unjust.
Annick Goldsmith, the
hemp co-op’s small farms
adviser, said she believes the
county shouldn’t “cast such a
wide net that (it) victimize(s)
people like Jerry and Gloria.”
Land use experts, however,
say liability laws placing the
burden on the property owner
are standard.
“It’s pretty straightfor-
ward. In most cases, ulti-
mately the person who owns
land is responsible for com-
pliance with all laws that deal
with the use of that land,” said
Jim Johnson, land use and
water planning coordinator
for the Oregon Department of
Agriculture.
Pearce, the attorney, said
landowners may be held lia-
ble for state and county viola-
tions, potentially for pollution,
illegal water uses, construc-
tion of unpermitted structures
and failure to register farm
labor camps.
Sickler, the sheriff , said
landowners should verify an
operation is legitimate “to pre-
vent a criminal organization
from setting up shop in our
county.”
The Wetzels, who received
$150,000 in rent between
March 2020 and April 2021,
say they thought they had
taken suffi cient precautions
because they were not busi-
ness partners of the tenant
and had worked with an attor-
ney to create an agreement
in 2020 to protect the farm’s
interests.
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 back-
ground check, ask for an
up-front security deposit and
engage a seasoned real estate
attorney before leasing to
hemp growers.
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