Joint Decision

Every year when the Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner releases the annual crop statistics, I place bets with Weekly photographer Nic Coury as to whether strawberries or lettuce will claim the top revenue-generating spot. (This June, when lettuce came in first, I won a cup of coffee.) Soon, there might be a third rival: marijuana.

After a year of meetings and deliberations, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 July 12 to approve an ordinance allowing the cultivation and sale of medical cannabis. Dozens of members of the public packed the supervisors chambers to comment on the draft regulations, weighing in vigorously for and against.

There were suit-clad attorneys, like Aaron Johnson of L+G, there to urge the supervisors to embrace the industry.

There were cannabusinessmen, like Jeff Brothers of Carmel Valley, who portrayed pot growers as an economic savior.

There were growers, like Chris Bunn, whose family started farming in Salinas a century ago – and who’s already staked his business success on food crops – who spoke to advocate for keeping agricultural fields dedicated to food, not pot.

“This valley should be dedicated to feeding people,” Bunn told the supervisors. “We’re dead-set against outdoor cultivation. You’re gonna make this decision, and the five of you are gonna own it.”

There was also a woman in a flower-print dress who walked up to Sheriff Steve Bernal in the aisle a couple of minutes after the vote to introduce herself. “I live in Bryson Hesperia,” she said, referring to the rural community near Lake San Antonio. “It’s pretty scary out there right now.”

She was describing a world where residents of remote communities fear drugs and guns and crime. A few people spoke about a shift in isolated regions of Monterey County that are suitable to growing the lucrative crop, where abandoned properties are now teeming with activity.

The decision to allow and regulate medical cannabis in Monterey County is the result of more than a year-long process. The supervisors voted in July 2015 to put a temporary moratorium on the industry, to give themselves some time to figure out a clear path forward.

They’ve been stuck in the weeds since then, and Tuesday’s vote marked what should have felt to advocates like a long-awaited victory. But it left even industry insiders feeling dazed.

“People are feeling like, what just happened?” Aram Stoney, co-owner of Big Sur Cannabotanicals, mused after the vote. “Is it bad or is it good? You’re not going to make everybody happy.”

Stoney and other collectives have reason to feel uncertain: A lot remains unresolved.

Since the early draft stages, the ordinance called for allowing pot cultivation in existing greenhouses only – favoring big businesses with the cash to buy them. Outdoor growing is prohibited for now, and the county’s answer is to think about it and revisit the issue in the fall.

County officials have attempted to get a read on how many grows there are in the county today. They’re still not sure, but think there might be 250, a fraction of which are indoor operations. That means lots of small outdoor growers would either stay illegal, or would have to shut down.

There’s also the question of a tax, which will be left up to voters Nov. 8.

Add to that the threat of a lawsuit. Lockwood resident and activist Steve Craig is already fomenting plans to sue the county over what he views as irresponsible land-use policy.

County officials received 108 pages of letters before Tuesday’s hearing, some with specific requests for technical changes to the draft ordinance. Others reveal emotions and rivalries. A look through those 100-plus pages shows another kind of battle brewing in Craig’s backyard, one that isn’t going to be any easier even with a helping of medical marijuana.

He’d been complaining about nearby landowner Blake Tastad, who fought back in a June 28 email to Craig: “If you continue to misinform others about our land I plan on filing a lawsuit of my own,” Tastad wrote. “Consider this the end of any potential friendship.”

SARA RUBIN is interim editor of the Weekly. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com or follow her on Twitter @sarahayleyrubin.