Page 7 - Sonoma County Gazette Sept 2017

Neighbors Shut Down Illegal Cannabis Grow
By Shepherd Bliss
In a quiet rural Sebastopol neighborhood on Schae er Rd., bulldozers and
water tanks appeared on the property next to Patrick and Susan Ball. The workers weren’t planting grapes but installing grow houses, water tanks and an irrigation system for an unpermitted Cannibas grow operation and the neighbors are outraged.
“There are families with children on both sides of this cannabis greenhouse, and families with children in houses just across the street. Also, we are all
on wells and are very worried about the massive amount of water that a commercial cannabis operation consumes. If this greenhouse is allowed to
be completed and to operate on the large commercial scale for which it is intended, we will have all lost the safety, peace and wellbeing that has made our neighborhood such a wonderful place to live.”
The neighbors reported this violation to various government o cials and agencies, including Supervisors David Rabbitt and Lynda Hopkins. They responded promptly and e ectively.
“Illegal grows
are a huge concern, environmentally
and socially,” wrote Supervisor Hopkins. “Unfortunately they
give the folks who are doing the right thing (going through County permitting processes
and growing in appropriate locations) a bad name,” she added.
Representatives from the
North Coast Regional Water
Quality Board, the county’s
Permit and Resources
Management (PRMD),
Supervisor Rabbitt’s o ce, and
our Bloom eld/Lone Pine/Cunningham Neighborhood Association visited the farm and con rmed that it did not have the required permits, red tagged it, and shut it down.
The new owner has it up for sale. We reminded the agent that a full disclosure was necessary; he took the “For Sale” sign down.
Unfortunately, hundreds of such un-permitted cannabis operations are popping up around the county. This endangers food farming, as well as the environment. These illegal growers often pump water from creeks. It can take up to 10-20 gallons a day per cannabis plant. These growers tend to select hidden rural areas and set up cameras.
A meeting for the public to comment on cannabis growing
will occur Sept. 27, Wed., 3 p.m., hosted by the Cannabis Program of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. Environmental and community protection should be part of that
discussion, at 2550 Ventura, Santa Rosa, at PRMD. We plan to go and hope that others will join us there and speak up. Since the room is relatively small, getting there early would be best.
To cannabis growers out there, please do it the right way. This not only bene ts you nancially, but also the environment, its many critters, and neighbors.
As Margaret Meade said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” and “We won’t have a society if we destroy the environment.”
Shepherd Bliss 3sb@comcast.net has farmed in Sebastopol for 24 years, and recently retired from college teaching.
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