Fresno County Supervisors passed a temporary ordinance Tuesday morning to stop medical marijuana users from growing plants outside.
Under the new rules, outdoor marijuana grows are now illegal in unincorporated parts of Fresno County but there are many questions about how the temporary ordinance will be enforced.
The ordinance basically says the cultivation of medical marijuana is still legal in these areas as long as it’s moved in doors and out of view.
Supervisors Take on Outdoor Pot Farms
Will Fresno County crack down on medical marijuana grows? The debate heats up after two shootings in the past week.
The latest shooting happened Monday morning and on Tuesday, Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea plans to introduce an emergency ordinance that could clear out those pot farms in 48 hours. “The bottom line is it places people in danger,” said Supervisor Perea.
If this passes with the Board of Supervisors, to give whoever has plants, 24 to 48 hours to take it all down. If they don’t take it down then we’ll go in and take it down for them,” Perea said.
Last week, CBS47 found three medical marijuana grows in a county island near Fresno Yosemite International Airport. Police and sheriff’s deputies can’t shut them down under the current regulations. “If that patient or that care provider can show us that medical card our hands are tied, said Captain Jose Flores with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department.
Counties from Merced to Tulare have restrictions on how much medical marijuana a patient is allowed but only Tulare County has limits on how medical marijuana is grown. The gardens must be in a locked fully enclosed structure that includes a ceiling or roof. The violence in Fresno has been around marijuana grows in the backyards of homes.
The latest shooting on Monday was reportedly because someone was trying to steal plants from the backyard of a home that is growing medical marijuana. Thieves left the stolen plants behind in a van abandoned on the side of the road.
On Wednesday of last week, a similar incident happened near Roeding Park, where one of the thieves was shot. 39-year-old Stanley Wallace was allegedly shot and killed by the grower, who chased after the thieves who stole his plants.
Perea will ask cities within Fresno County to adopt the same ordinance so these marijuana gardens aren’t pushed into those areas.
Perea’s son, Henry T Perea, will take an emergency ordinance to the Fresno City Council on Thursday.