Page 6 - Sonoma County Gazette March 2018.indd

LETTERS cont’d from page 5
When I attended your candidates night in 2015 at the Sebastopol Grange,, a west county resident told how the wells in his neighborhood had gone dry unttil they neighbors reported the illegal cannibas operation and the county put them out of business at which time the wells began regenerating water for the neighbors.
appears that the county believes that all the money it will realize from “Cannabis” operations will solve its financial woes. I would suggest that
is not quite the case: in fact, I don’t think the proper evaluation of the entire picture is being studies in the very least. Who is doing the math: if it takes 6 gallons of water per day (365 days a year) X ??? # of plants, how much ground water will be used for what size of operation?These statistics I discovered after the west county gentleman revealed what happened in his neighborhood... I then researched the matter and if you look at the April 2014 issue of Mother Jones magazine (in which they quote the Santa Rosa Press Democrat) , you will find these astonishing statistics. All this in spite of the fact that I understand one of the owners of the PD is an investor in the Cannabis industry.
We already have grapes sucking up a huge amount of our water reserves... what can we expect. How much will the county be willing to spend to keep its ground water citizens from dry wells?
This is increasingly part of the discussion and I remember the fellow from the water board talking about the high water use of Cannabis because
it is a shallow-rooted annual. But my understanding is that cannabis grown with hydroponics uses considerably less water. Perhaps this will force crops indoors, and if that’s the case, into industrial-zoned lands - away from neighborhoods and wells. ~ Vesta
This letter has a more promotional purpose than a critical analysis. I was so in favor of this Book Review by Diane McCurdy. I bought and read Being Mortal by Atul Gwande as soon as it was published in 2014. I have loaned it to many and have advised
many to purchase and read this book. It may be one of the most recent books of great importanceto have been written. It has valuable information for all generations and the generations to come.
planet, we deserve a quality of life with artistic surroundings, gardens to admire and grow food in, music, art, animals and organic food.
Cannabis Grow Sites
Under current methods, if this operation had a permit (and I understand it is pretty easily obtained with no real environmental impact or hearings), that operation might still be depriving the neighborhood of its water supply.
I agree with McCurdy’s description of the author’s concern for the dignity of death, but I also strongly believe the book is also a plea for the dignity of elder LIFE. The decades of almost criminal elder care abuse has been exposed! The average nursing home design or “old people’s homes,”
have been indicted as they should
be. Along with Dr. W Thomas, from his book, A Lite Worth Living, who sets forth a new age in facilities
for the elderly, by promoting and revolutionizing the design and programs for group residential living. No matter how long we live on this
We deserve an invigorating social life and opportunities for skills, wisdom and our passion for living. We deserve a life which holds a future WORTH living. We do not need to only consider the demise of our death. We need a Life with pursuits, social life, art, laughter, activities and perhaps even a new career! Atul Gwande’s book, Being Mortal is not only about opportunities for improving the quality of care for advanced illness.
I intend to attend the February
28th meeting of the Advisory Board (which is heavily weighted by LLC s representing the out-of-area cannabis growers to protest the widespread permitting of cannabis operations in neighborhoods where they depend on ground water for their very survival. I intend to ask how the county will support home owners who find themselves in such a situation where they might not have a source of water for their meagerest of needs.
It is also an inspirational serious discussion for the quality of care for institutionalized elder living settings. There is a bright star and a gem of great wisdom to be discovered in this timely review by Diane McCurdy.
I will also question the fact that the “Advisory” Committee does not keep public records of its meetings. I will question how the Grand Jury might investigate the workings of such a group should it be in question (and I seriously believe it will be).
The ordinance coddles growers because the county got snookered into believing that the ordinance would bring small growers “out of the shadows.” The applications for two of the properties (4944 Bennett Valley Road and 4050 Grange Road) are not complete, but the county is allowing the operators to grow marijuana without a permit. What other business is allowed to function for over a year while waiting for a permit? Who builds a house without a permit?
Nina Tepedino, Sebastopol
I know of no other type of business that would be allowed to create such an adverserial condition in otherwise quiet, law-abiding neighborhoods.
cannabis within the Bennett Valley Area Plan. The well-funded promoters
of the marijuana industry told the Board of Supervisors in late 2016 that
most applicants for permits under the Sonoma County Cannabis Land Use Ordinance would be “mom and pop” farmers who have been growing cannabis for years. As the table indicates, most permit applicants in Bennett Valley are investors who lack ties to our community.
Charlene Stone, Santa Rosa
By Craig S. Harrison
Six limited liability companies (LLCs) have applied for permits to grow
I am not opposed to cannabis as a medical treatment, or of its occasional usage. What I regret (and I think
a great many Californiians will
regret in the results of approving cannabis usage in the state) is the proliferation of these operation in our neighborhoods and places we consider safe before cannabis inclusion. It
Kudos to Diane McCurdy
Four parcels are zoned DA (diversified agriculture), a category that seems indistinguishable in practice from “rural residential” zoning where commercial cannabis is banned. The two parcels on Grange Road are zoned RRD (resources and rural development), a land use category that, among other things, is intended to protect the watershed and habitat for fish and wildlife. Marijuana farming is water-intensive, and seems on its face to be an incompatible use in RRD.
OPINION cont’d on page 7
6 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3/18
OPINION : Is Commercial Marijuana Good for Bennett Valley Residents?