Crook County adopts marijuana ban

PRINEVILLE — In front of a room packed full of marijuana advocates, the three-man Crook County Court voted unanimously Wednesday morning to adopt an ordinance banning all marijuana-related businesses in unincorporated areas of the county.

The ban went into effect immediately as an emergency provision was tied to the ordinance.

“Crook County commissioners just turned a bunch of hard-working people into criminals and made it harder for them to feed their families,” said Justin Gottlieb, one of five marijuana proponents who gave public comment.

“This (Measure 91 and the legalization of marijuana in Oregon) is a great way to get folks back to work,” Gottlieb said. “This is similar to Facebook and some of the other economic opportunities in Crook County.”

Tensions ran hot for most of the meeting as marijuana backers — the majority of the 40-plus people who squeezed into the court’s meeting room — accused Judge Mike McCabe and commissioners Seth Crawford and Ken Fahlgren of having predetermined the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting. Parliamentary procedure took a backseat to various emotional outbursts when marijuana supporters loudly called the judge and commissioners “hypocrites” and vowed that “come re-election time, none of you’ll be here!”

Calm was not restored until after the marijuana backers left the building and the court’s scheduled discussions moved on to asbestos and dead animal disposal rates at the county landfill.

In Crook County, the governing body is called the County Court. Its elected members are the county judge, who is chairman of the court and the county administrator, and two commissioners.

Three Crook County residents spoke for the ban, which has no effect on residents’ rights to possess and grow small amounts of marijuana as guaranteed by the passing of Measure 91 last November.

Retired circuit court judge Gary Thompson spoke at length in favor of banning marijuana businesses in the county. Thompson, the only speaker who contacted the court ahead of time to secure a spot on the agenda, spoke about his years on the bench and time dealing with people caught up in drug and alcohol addiction.

“People trying to get clean, they were often able to quit the methamphetamines and the cocaine, but they had a terrible time stepping away from marijuana,” Thompson said.

With the ban, businesses such as retail and medical shops are prohibited in Crook County’s unincorporated areas as well as grow operations and/or manufacturing businesses that work with marijuana. Prineville, which has a medical dispensary, has not enacted a ban.

“What it comes down to is keeping our community as safe as possible,” Crawford said after the meeting. “I don’t think storefronts encouraging marijuana use is the most positive thing for children in our community.”

Crook County is now the fifth county in the state — and the first in Central Oregon — to utilize House Bill 3400A, which allows counties that voted against Measure 91 by at least 55 percent to ban marijuana-related businesses.

Almost 59 percent of Crook County voters last November voted against Measure 91, with 5,358 people voting against legalizing marijuana and 3,747 people voting yes.

Cities in the counties with at least 55 percent voting no also have the opt-out option under House Bill 3400A.

To date, Douglas County in Southern Oregon and Umatilla, Harney and Malheur counties — all east of the Cascades — have banned marijuana businesses.

“I talked to a lot of other counties (that allow marijuana businesses) and they’re already having huge issues dealing with them,” Crawford said. “I just think it’s better to step back and wait and see what those issues are.”

The county’s ban on retail and medical shops is almost purely symbolic, as those businesses are required to be located in commercial zones. The few places in unincorporated Crook County zoned commercial are too close to schools or federal buildings for pot shops to operate on, said Crook County Community Development Director Bill Zelenka.

“The commercial zone in Paulina, the school’s next door,” Zelenka told the County Court, noting that retail shops cannot be within 1,000 feet of a school.

“In Post, it (the commercial zone) is right next to federal property, the post office. In Powell Butte, there’s the school and the post office. We really don’t have any areas (in unincorporated Crook County) that allow for retail sales.”

The county is ripe for retail growing, though, according to Darren Hepperle, who has a 52-acre farm near Powell Butte. Already a medical grower — which is technically a nonprofit and therefore not affected by the new ordinance — Hepperle spoke to the County Court about how growing marijuana for retail sales could benefit local farmers and the entire county.

“We’re looking at this as a way to increase revenue,” Hepperle said. “There’s so many hours that go into growing and cultivating plants, that’s a lot of jobs. … A (growing operation) adds to the economy as the county’s able to take some tax dollars. And it increases employment opportunities. There’ll be skids of jobs, especially come October when you’re pulling plants.”

The county can reverse its ban at any time, something Crawford said he’d be willing to entertain if his concerns about marijuana businesses were unfounded.

“That’s the beauty of this ordinance; we have the ability to step back and see what happens,” said Crawford, who pushed for marijuana supporters to be allowed to state their case, despite none of them requesting beforehand to be on the court’s scheduled appearance list.

“If I’m wrong, I’m more than willing to have that conversation later. But right now, there’s just no reason for us to jump into something we can’t go back on.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7829, beastes@bendbulletin.com