Sierra County Municipal Code Ch. 8.02 Commercial Marijuana

A. The Board of Supervisors finds that the prohibitions on commercial marijuana cultivation, marijuana processing and marijuana dispensaries are necessary for the preservation and protection of the public health, safety, and welfare for the county of Sierra and its community. The prohibition of such activities is within their authority under state law.

1. Local governments may enact ordinances expressing their intent to prohibit the cultivation of marijuana and their intent not to administer a conditional permit program pursuant to Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11362.777 for the cultivation of marijuana (Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11362.777(c)(4));

2. The Act does not supersede or limit local authority for local law enforcement activity, enforcement of local ordinances, or enforcement of local permit or licensing requirements regarding marijuana (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 19315(a);

3. The Act does not limit the authority or remedies of a local government under any provision of law regarding marijuana, including but not limited to a local government’s right to make and enforce within its limits all police regulations not in conflict with general laws (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 19316(c)); and

B. The Board of Supervisors finds that this chapter: (1) expresses its intent to prohibit the commercial cultivation of marijuana in Sierra County and to not administer a conditional permit program pursuant to Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11362.777 for the cultivation of marijuana in Sierra County; (2) exercises its local authority to enact and enforce local regulations and ordinances, including those regarding the permitting, licensing, or other entitlement of the activities prohibited by this chapter; (3) exercises its police power to enact and enforce regulations for the public benefit, safety, and welfare of Sierra County and its community; and (4) expressly prohibits the cultivation, sale, and dispensing of medical marijuana in Sierra County. (Ord. 1081 § 2, eff. 6/29/18)

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

“Commercial cannabis cultivation” means any activity involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, or trimming of cannabis for medical or recreational use, including nurseries, that is intended to be transported, processed, manufactured, distributed, dispensed, delivered, or sold in accordance with the Medical and Adult-Use Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) for use by adult use and medical cannabis patients in California pursuant to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (Proposition 215) or recreational use pursuant to (AUMA), found at Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11362.5.

“Marijuana” means any or all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa Linnaeus, Cannabis indica, or Cannabis ruderalis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin or separated resin, whether crude or purified, extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin, including marijuana infused in foodstuff or any other ingestible or consumable product containing marijuana. The term “marijuana” shall also include “medical marijuana” as such phrase is used in the August 2008 Guidelines for the Security and Non-Diversion of Marijuana Grown for Medical Use, as may be amended from time to time, that was issued by the office of the Attorney General for the state of California or subject to the provisions of Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11362.5 (Compassionate Use Act of 1996) or Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 11362.7 to 11362.83 (Medical Marijuana Program Act).

“Marijuana dispensary” or “marijuana dispensaries” means any business, office, store, facility, location, retail storefront or wholesale component of any establishment, cooperative or collective that delivers (as defined in Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 19300.5(m) or any successor statute thereto), whether mobile or otherwise, dispenses, distributes, exchanges, transmits, transports, sells or provides marijuana to any person for any reason, including members of any medical marijuana cooperative or collective consistent with the August 2008 Guidelines for the Security and Non-Diversion of Marijuana Grown for Medical Use, as may be amended from time to time, that was issued by the office of the Attorney General for the state of California, or for the purposes set forth in Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11362.5 (Compassionate Use Act of 1996) or Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 11362.7 to 11362.83 (Medical Marijuana Program Act).

“Marijuana processing” means any method used to prepare marijuana or its byproducts for commercial retail and/or wholesale, including but not limited to: drying, cleaning, curing, packaging, and extraction of active ingredients to create marijuana related products and concentrates.

“Medical marijuana collective” or “cooperative or collective” means any group that is collectively or cooperatively cultivating and distributing marijuana for medical purposes that is organized in the manner set forth in the August 2008 Guidelines for the Security and Non-Diversion of Marijuana Grown for Medical Use, as may be amended from time to time, that was issued by the office of the Attorney General for the state of California or subject to the provisions of Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11362.5 (Compassionate Use Act of 1996) or Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 11362.7 to 11362.83 (Medical Marijuana Program Act). (Ord. 1081 § 2, eff. 6/29/18)

Commercial marijuana cultivation, marijuana processing, collectives and marijuana dispensaries shall be prohibited activities in the county of Sierra, except where preempted by federal or state law from enacting a prohibition on any such activity. No use permit, variance, building permit, or any other entitlement, license, or permit, whether administrative or discretionary, shall be approved or issued for the activities of marijuana cultivation, marijuana processing, or the establishment or operation of a marijuana dispensary in the county, and no person shall otherwise establish or conduct such activities in Sierra County, except where preempted by federal or state law from enacting a prohibition on any such activity for which the use permit, variance, building permit, or any other entitlement, license, or permit is sought. (Ord. 1081 § 2, eff. 6/29/18)

Sierra County hereby exempts commercial deliveries within the county from the prohibited activities. Sierra County residents may receive commercial delivery of medical or recreational marijuana. All deliveries must be by a driver licensed by the state of California and in compliance with all state law and regulations related to commercial delivery of marijuana. (Ord. 1081 § 2, eff. 6/29/18)

Any violation of this chapter is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. (Ord. 1081 § 2, eff. 6/29/18)

Any violation of this chapter shall be punishable as provided in Chapter 1.16 SCC or any successor section thereto. (Ord. 1081 § 2, eff. 6/29/18)

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have adopted the ordinance codified in this chapter and each section, subsection, clause or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases be declared invalid. (Ord. 1081 § 2, eff. 6/29/18)