Fresno Municipal Code Art. 21 Cultivation of Marijuana

Footnotes:

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Editor's note— Ord. 2014-20, §§ 1, 2, effective May 9, 2014, amended the Code by repealing former Art. 21, §§ 12-2101—12-2104, and adding a new Art. 21. Former Art. 21 pertained to the outdoor cultivation of marijuana, and derived from Ord. 2012-13, effective August 3, 2012.

The purpose of this article is to prohibit the cultivation of marijuana in order to protect the public peace, health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the city.

(Added Ord. 2014-20, § 2, eff. 5-9-14).

This article is not intended to, nor shall it be construed or given effect in a manner that causes it to apply to, any activity that is regulated by federal or state law to the extent that application of this article would conflict with such law or would unduly interfere with the achievement of federal or state regulatory purposes. This article shall be interpreted to be compatible and consistent with federal, county, and state enactments and in furtherance of the public purposes which those enactments express. It is the intention that the provisions of this article will supersede any other provisions of this code found to be in conflict.

(Added Ord. 2014-20, § 2, eff. 5-9-14).

For purposes of this article, unless the particular provision or the context otherwise clearly requires, the definitions in this section shall govern the construction, meaning and application of words and phrases used in this article:

(a) "Cultivation" means the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, processing, or storage of one or more marijuana plants or any part thereof in any location.

(b) "Marijuana" means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L., whether growing or not, and includes medical marijuana.

(c) "Medical marijuana" means marijuana used for medical purposes in accordance with California Health and Safety Code section 11362.5.

(d) "Collective, cooperative or dispensary" means a collective, cooperative, dispensary, operator, establishment, provider, association or similar entity that cultivates, distributes, delivers or processes marijuana for medical purposes relating to a qualified patient or primary caregiver, pursuant to the Compassionate Use Act and Medical Marijuana Program Act.

(e) "Primary caregiver" means a primary caregiver as defined in Health and Safety Code section 11362.7.

(f) "Qualified patient" means a qualified patient as defined in Health and Safety Code section 11362.7.

(Added Ord. 2014-20, § 2, eff. 5-9-14).

Marijuana cultivation by any person is prohibited in all zone districts within the city. Therefore, it is unlawful for any person, corporation, or other entity owning, leasing, occupying, directly controlling or having charge of any property in this city to keep, maintain or deposit on said property any marijuana cultivation, including primary caregivers and qualified patients, collectives, cooperatives or dispensaries.

This prohibition does not apply to any person that has a city commercial cannabis business permit for cultivation as described in Article 33 of Chapter 9 of this Code, as may be amended, or for up to 6 plants grown indoors, per residence, as permitted by state law.

(Added Ord. 2014-20, § 2, eff. 5-9-14; Am. Ord. 2020-039, § 1, eff. 10-25-20; Am. Ord. 2025-022, § 1, eff. 7-18-25).

(a) A violation of this article shall be prosecuted by the City Attorney through the civil enforcement process, including injunctive relief, as set forth in Section 1-308 of this code. Each day a person is in violation of this article shall be considered a separate violation.

(b) The administrative citation penalty for each and every marijuana plant cultivated in violation of this article shall be One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) per plant, plus One Hundred Dollars ($100) per plant per day the plant remains unabated past the abatement deadline set forth in the administrative citation.

(c) Any property upon which a violation of this article is found shall be subject to immediate abatement by the city.

(d) In addition to any administrative penalty assessed for violation of this article, any person found in violation of this article will be charged abatement, actual, administrative and enforcement costs as defined in Section 1-503, calculated to recover the total costs incurred by the city in enforcing this article.

(Added Ord. 2014-20, § 2, eff. 5-9-14).

If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this article is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this article. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed this ordinance and adopted this article and each section, sentence, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Added Ord. 2014-20, § 2, eff. 5-9-14).

All of the provisions of this article shall be immediately enforceable as to the outdoor cultivation of marijuana. Any person legally cultivating marijuana indoors prior to the effective date of this article shall have one hundred twenty (120) days from the effective date of this article to harvest their crop of marijuana. After the one hundred twenty day (120) grace period, all the provisions of this article shall be immediately enforceable.

(Added Ord. 2014-20, § 2, eff. 5-9-14).