COPS: POT ORDINANCE BEING UNIVERSALLY VIOLATED

CHICO - Police Target team members and city code enforcement officers
have been checking on dozens of pot grows in recent weeks, and found
nearly all violate Chico's new medical marijuana ordinance.

Target commander Sgt. Dave Britt said the size of the grows is the
problem, and not that cultivators have failed to obtain a medical
marijuana recommendation. In nearly all cases the team has found
grows to exceed the allowable 50 square-feet.

One reportedly took up more than half of a good-sized backyard.

Britt said the inspections his team has done have been complaint driven.

"People see marijuana growing over a fence, or start to smell it, and
call us," he said. "Most of the grows have been in very ordinary
neighborhoods," he said, adding that people who don't like pot
growing in their area, or just don't like it, are most likely to complain.

Britt said there's not much that can be done about complaints, other
than make sure the grows are within the city ordinance guidelines,
which for outdoor gardens means an adequate setback from the property
line, and screening the grow from the street.

Outdoor grows require a city permit. Indoor grows don't, but also
must meet the 50-square-foot maximum requirement. Britt said some
people don't seem to have a good grasp on how big that is. He said
one grower asked him if that meant 50 feet by 50 feet, which would be
2,500 square-feet.

He said most people can relate when he tells them to imagine a large
piece of plywood as representing the approximate overall size.

Britt said because some of the people they call on are likely to be
drug dealers, he prefers to make visits on grows with a team of at
least three or four people.

"That ties up a lot of manpower, so we've been scheduling visits for
one day about every other week," he said.

With harvest season beginning, Britt said his team may step up the
frequency of enforcement checks over the next two or three weeks.

So far no one out of compliance has been arrested or even cited,
according to Britt. He said one citation may be issued soon for a
repeat offender, but explained the enforcement right now is largely
educational.

"We don't go peeking over fences, but if we get information that
someone may be in violation, we respond," Britt said.

After doing compliance checks Monday, Britt said he still has a list
of about six locations the team will look at later this month.

Citations for being out of compliance cost $112 for the first
violation, and double with each subsequent citation. Britt said
cultivators can be cited every day until they correct the violation.

If growers are over the size limit, they may be given from a few days
to a week to get rid of enough plants to meet the code, no questions asked.

He said the city is keeping a list of growers found to be out of
compliance with the ordinance. "If we check back next year and find
repeat offenders, they may be cited," he said.

There is no limit on the number of plants allowed in the
50-square-foot area, and Britt said that's among the questions
growers most often ask.

Part of the education effort is warning growers that their property
could become the target of armed thieves. Near Oroville Monday a man
and woman suspected of possibly trying to get at the pot garden of a
San Jose man were shot in the head.

"One man we called on said he wasn't going to grow next year," Britt
said, noting the man has seen too many people sneaking around his property.

Complaints are coming in concerning pot grows in all parts of Chico,
police said.