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HomeMy WebLinkAboutORD 479 2020 0115 ORDINANCE NO. 479 AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, EXTENDING THE EXISTING MORATORIUM ON THE CULTIVATION, MANUFACTURING, TESTING, STORING, AND CERTAIN RETAIL SALES OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP, DECLARING THE URGENCY THEREOF AND THE IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS ORDINANCE PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTIONS 65858, 36934 AND 36937, AND MAKING A DETERMINATION OF EXEMPTION UNDER THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MOORPARK DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Findings A. The City Council desires to provide for the public safety, health and welfare of the residents and visitors to the City of Moorpark ("City") by exercising its police power authority under Section 7 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Based on the findings and evidence set forth below, the City Council finds that certain uses of industrial hemp may create public safety, health and welfare impacts within the City. These activities include the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, retail sale, and storing of industrial hemp. At this time, industrial hemp uses are not specifically listed for regulation by Municipal Code Chapter 17.20 (Uses by Zone). B. The City finds that the public welfare will be harmed without studying and evaluating the impacts associated with industrial hemp, including odor, processing safety, and the generation of air pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Dozens of residents have called City and County of Ventura ("County") officials complaining of the continual skunk-like odor in their neighborhoods as terpenes from a large farm of industrial hemp grown to produce CBD oil wafts into residential neighborhoods adjacent to this hemp farm. During public hearings regarding industrial hemp, the City Council heard from a substantial number of individuals regarding the harmful effects of the odor emanating from industrial hemp cultivation located adjacent to the City in unincorporated areas of the County. Aside from having to experience offensive odors, many of these residents also have complained of headaches, nausea, sore throats and other physical side effects from breathing and smelling the distinctive odor generated by industrial hemp grown to produce CBD oil. C. The City Council finds that there is a current and immediate threat to the public safety, health and welfare presented by the increased crime associated with Ordinance No. 479 Page 2 industrial hemp activities. The Ventura County Sheriff's Department documented 10 cases of hemp theft in only 34 days in October and November 2019, and the County has arrested 10 individuals in connection with stolen hemp. During one such event a firearm was reportedly brandished where the suspects were suspected of planning to steal hemp plants. Of the 10 individuals arrested on suspicion of hemp theft, nine of them resided outside of the County. Given that industrial hemp is now grown within the County, the Sheriff's Department is concerned that criminals are travelling into the County for the purpose of stealing hemp plants and hemp paraphernalia. Theft of hemp plants is made easier by limited security measures observed by the Sheriff's Department during inspections of existing hemp farms within the County. The additional patrols and investigatory resources devoted to industrial hemp activities prevent the Sheriff's Department from undertaking other crime prevention activities in surrounding areas, and it is reasonable to surmise that hemp activities within the City would detract the Sheriff's Department from undertaking other crime prevention activities in the City. Based on this evidence, the City Council finds that the adoption of this Interim Ordinance is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public safety, health and welfare. D. The City Council further finds that certain products containing or produced with industrial hemp, primarily cannabidiols (CBD), have not yet received Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval to determine whether they are effective to treat particular conditions or have other effects that may be claimed. In addition, such products have not been subjected to an FDA evaluation to determine proper dosages, dangerous side effects, or other safety conditions. As a result, persons purchasing such products may be exposed to misleading, unproven, or false claims associated with industrial hemp products, including CBD extracted from industrial hemp, which is a real and legitimate public health and safety concern. Furthermore, the FDA has noted that it has seen only limited data about CBD safety and the data points to real risks that should be considered before CBD is ingested. Finally, according to the FDA, the quality of many CBD products has not been fully evaluated with respect to the processing controls and practices involved in the production of CBD that may put consumers at additional health risks. For these reasons, the City Council desires to exercise its police power, including the City's land use authority, to protect the public health and safety from the risks associated from the retail sale of industrial hemp products, including CBD, that have not yet received approval from the FDA for consumption. E. Allowing industrial hemp activities, without a complete and adequate state and federal regulatory framework in place, will not adequately protect the public's safety, health and welfare. As such, if the City fails to enact this moratorium, industrial hemp activities will continue to create a current and immediate threat to the public safety, health and welfare. Ordinance No. 479 Page 3 F. For the foregoing reasons, and based on all evidence made available to the City Council, on December 18, 2019, the City Council adopted Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 477 to establish an initial 45-day moratorium on the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, storing, and certain retail sales of industrial hemp within the City. G. During the initial 45-day moratorium, City staff undertook measures to alleviate the conditions described above that led the City Council to adopt Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 477. These measures include reviewing the County of Ventura's independent actions to mitigate impacts caused by industrial hemp cultivation, conferring with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department, researching actions taken by the Federal Drug Administration and other jurisdictions to regulate industrial hemp, and researching and developing permanent amendments to the Moorpark Zoning Code to codify appropriate limitations on industrial hemp activities. These measures are more fully explained in the report adopted by the City Council on January 2, 2020, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(d). This report is attached to the January 15, 2020 staff report accompanying this Interim Urgency Ordinance and made a part of the record thereto. H. The City is still undertaking its review of the measures needed to alleviate the conditions that led to the adoption of Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 477. Accordingly, the City Council is adopting this ordinance to extend the moratorium by an additional 10 months, 15 days, unless terminated sooner by the City Council. I. Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(a), the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing prior to adopting this Interim Ordinance. J. The City Council finds that this Interim Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15061(c)(3) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment), 15060(c)(3) and 15378 (the activity is not a project under CEQA) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly. This is because the moratorium adopted by this Interim Ordinance merely prohibits uses that have significant impacts on public health, safety and welfare, and does not permit any development that could result in a significant change to the environment. Furthermore, the moratorium established by this Interim Ordinance is temporary pending the study and investigation of regulatory tools to address the impacts created by industrial hemp activities. In addition, the Interim Ordinance is categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 15308 of the CEQA Guidelines, because this ordinance is a regulatory action taken by the City in accordance with California Government Code Section 65858 to assure maintenance and protection of Ordinance No. 479 Page 4 the environment pending further review of the potential impacts of industrial hemp uses in the City and completion of contemplated Zoning Ordinance revisions. SECTION 2. Definitions A. "Cultivation" means the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, or trimming of industrial hemp. B. "Industrial hemp" means a fiber or oilseed crop, or both, that is limited to types of the plant Cannabis sativa L. having no more than three-tenths of one percent (0.3%) tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained in the dried flowering tops, whether growing or not; the seeds of the plant; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin produced therefrom. C. "Unapproved industrial hemp products" means any item or thing containing any amount of industrial hemp that is intended for human or animal consumption and has not yet received approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration. D. "Manufacturing" means to compound, blend, extract, infuse, process, or otherwise make or prepare an industrial hemp product. E. "Retail sale" means any person or business selling or offering to sell, or to otherwise convey or exchange for any form of consideration, the following: (1) industrial hemp or products derived from any amount of industrial hemp where the sale of such products comprises five percent or more of the business's floor area or five percent or more of the gross sales of such business in any one month period; or (2) unapproved industrial hemp products in any quantity or amount. F. "Storing" means to store unprocessed industrial hemp. G. "Testing" means a laboratory, facility, or entity in the state that offers or performs tests of industrial hemp and industrial hemp products. SECTION 3. Moratorium Extended The City of Moorpark hereby extends the current moratorium on the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, retail sale, and storing of industrial hemp. Cultivation, manufacturing, testing, retail sale, and storing of industrial hemp shall all constitute prohibited uses under Title 17 of the Moorpark Municipal Code and no building permit, Ordinance No. 479 Page 5 business regulatory permit, zoning clearance, or other entitlement may be issued for the purposes of authorizing such uses. SECTION 4. Penalty A violation of any provision of this Interim Ordinance shall constitute a violation of the Municipal Code and is subject to all applicable penalties, fines, and remedies described in Chapter 1.10 of the Moorpark Municipal Code. Each and every day a violation of this Interim Ordinance exists shall constitute a separate and distinct violation of the Municipal Code. SECTION 5. Term of Moratorium This Interim Ordinance shall expire, and the moratorium established hereby shall terminate on December 16, 2020, which is 10 months, 15 days after the expiration date of the initial 45-day moratorium established by Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 477 on December 18, 2019, unless extended by the City Council at a noticed public hearing pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858. Alternatively, the City Council may terminate the Interim Ordinance prior to its expiration date of December 16, 2020 upon the adoption of a permanent ordinance that regulates industrial hemp activities. SECTION 6. Investigation and Report During Term of Moratorium During the term of this Interim Ordinance, the Community Development Director is directed to continue studying appropriate regulatory tools to mitigate the conditions outlined in Section 1 that arise out of the cultivation, manufacturing, testing, retail sale, and storing of industrial hemp, including but not limited to the prohibition of all such uses. The Community Development Director is further directed to report back to the City Council with his or her findings and a proposed ordinance to implement the recommended course of action. SECTION 7. Effective Date; Findings of Urgency; and Duration A. This Interim Ordinance is adopted as an urgency ordinance pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Sections 65858, 36934 and 36937, and shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. Based upon the findings set forth in Section 1 above, the City Council finds and determines that the adoption of this Interim Ordinance is an urgency ordinance authorized by Government Code Section 65858, and is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health, safety, and welfare. B. Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(a), this Interim Ordinance shall be adopted by not less than a four-fifths vote of the City Council and shall be in Ordinance No. 479 Page 6 effect for 10 months, 15 days from February 1, 2020. The City Council may extend the Interim Ordinance for up to an additional one year, if necessary. The 'Community Development Director and the City Clerk's office shall undertake all actions legally necessary to extend this Interim Ordinance in the event the studies and reports desired by the City Council will not be concluded on or before December 16, 2020. SECTION 8. Severability If any provision of this Interim Ordinance, the application thereof to any person or circumstance, or the moratorium on any of the specific uses of industrial hemp is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions, moratoria, or applications of this Interim Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are severable. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Interim Ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any particular portion thereof. SECTION 9. Publication and Certification The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this ordinance; shall enter the same in the book of original ordinances of said City; shall make a minute of the passage and adoption thereof in the records of the proceedings of the City Council at which the same is passed and adopted; and shall publish notice of adoption in the manner required by law. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of January, 2020. oJam ice S. Parvin, Mayor ATTEST: o¢Qa'p��gc O� '.0.0 4 14.1.0,- Oritile Ky Sp gler, Clerk o`v% � —‘11,4%,,, Iril O,9n I?*0 .00:4 Ordinance No. 479 Page 7 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF VENTURA ) ss. CITY OF MOORPARK ) I, Ky Spangler, City Clerk of the City of Moorpark, California, do hereby certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing Ordinance No. 479 was adopted by the City Council of the City of Moorpark at a regular meeting held on the 15th day of January, 2020 and that the same was adopted by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Enegren, Mikos, Pollock, Simons, and Mayor Parvin NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None WITNESS my hand and the official seal of said City this 15th day of January, 2020. Ky Sp gler City Clerk (seal) o A/1:0,k VO. 44 QarED Jut'