BREAKING: Growers in Oregon’s Josephine County Beat Back a Ban

Josephine County skipped a step.In the past six months, we have closely followed the efforts of Josephine County, Oregon, to ban cannabis farming in its rural residential 5 (RR-5) zone (see our coverage here and here). Just last week we mentioned that a coalition of local growers (“Petitioners”) challenging the local ordinance finally had their day in court, presenting their case to Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals (“LUBA”). In brief, the challenged ordinance, adopted in December, banned marijuana production on RR-5 lots smaller than five acres, and seriously curtailed production on larger lots. The Petitioners challenged the ordinance on three grounds, alleging:
The ordinance violated ORS 215.130(5) because it does not allow farms operating at the time the ordinance was adopted to continue operating. (ORS 215.130(5) essentially prohibits a county from adopting an ordinance that retroactively bans existing lawful uses.)
The county failed to give mandatory notices to the owners of any properties that would be limited or prohibited from any previously allowed uses.
Local jurisdictions are only allowed to place “reasonable regulations” on commercial cannabis production, and this ordinance did not qualify.
Yesterday, LUBA issued its opinion in favor of the Petitioners, and sent the County back to square one on the ordinance. The Petitioners deserve a hearty congratulations, but the fight is far from over. This is because LUBA kicked the case back to the County after determining that the County failed to provide the mandatory pre-hearing notices required for any proposed zoning change. As a result, LUBA did not reach the merits of whether 1) the ordinance violated ORS 215.130(5) because of its retroactive application or 2) whether the ordinance went beyond the County’s right to impose “reasonable regulations” on cannabis production. LUBA simply found that the County acted without the required public input.
By kicking the case for a procedural error, LUBA left the door open for the County to continue to pursue this or a similar ordinance. That isn’t to say that the County is going to have an easy time of it. LUBA’s Opinion requires the County to comply with the notice requirements and hold at least one more public hearing. This is no easy feat, as the County will need to issue individual written notice, by mail, to the owners of all 16,000 RR-5 lots.
Although public scrutiny will no doubt increase, we expect the County to continue to push forward in its misguided attempt to regulate away its fledging cannabis industry, as well as all the taxes and jobs that will go with it. In a County that has struggled to provide even basic services following the timber revenue dive, that seems like a shame.


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