California City collects separate violation fees per illegal plant

Fed up with the increase in home-growing violations, Brentwood, California officials have taken action to stop it.

On July 12, the Brentwood City Council tightened the rules for growing cannabis at home, expanding the rules beyond the legal limit of six plants in a private home. Administrative subpoenas can be issued – per plant – for all plants grown in excess of the legal limit.

The measure passed the Brentwood City Council by a 4-0 vote with Vice Mayor Johnny Rodriguez absent.

Residents should carefully consider how many plants to grow at home. A subpoena of $100 will be issued for the first violation, $200 for the second violation, and $500 for the third and subsequent violations. This means that each facility is now considered a separate violation.

The city has seen an increase in cannabis cultivation violations, according to Code Enforcement Supervisor Roberta Portillo-Bienemann. The new rules would give law enforcement officials additional tools to combat illegal home growing and put a bit more pressure on residents who consider defying the rules.

Typical illegal growers have up to 10 violations, Portillo-Bienemann said, but the new rules would add more violations depending on the number of plants found through enforcement of the code.

Portillo-Bienemann said the offender typically has five to seven days to appeal the subpoena, but the city could impose fines per plant per day.

“In order to give an individual their right to due process and their opportunity to appeal this citation, we issue the administrative penalties weekly,” she told the Santa Cruz Sentinel. “We hope these revisions will improve the city’s ability to enforce the code and prevent illegal marijuana cultivation.”

But next door in Antioch, California, police say there’s no real problem — at least not in their town.

Steve Ford, Antioch’s interim police chief, said they hadn’t seen any growhouses in his city in the past year, but months ago at least one illegal warehouse-growing operation was discovered and penalized by code enforcement.

“As crazy as it sounds, I’d like to believe that [the availability of dispensaries] has helped eliminate the need for people to try to build a weed house or grow weed because they don’t have to,” Ford told the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Brentwood has regulated home growing since 2017, when it incorporated California law into its municipal statute to reflect Proposition 64. City leaders are primarily concerned about large-scale operations, and they say crop sizes are reaching the hundreds or thousands and they believe it creates health and safety risks.

Brentwood Mayor Joel Bryant said he supports the new home growing rules.

“Having seen some of these add-on homes in our community, not only is there an immediate fire hazard to the neighboring homes and there are health concerns from the mold, but there has also been some violent interactions from criminal activity,” Bryant said. “Not only from the breeders, but also from criminals who found out that prison was there.”

Councilwoman Susannah Meyer approved the measure, saying the expanded rules will not affect anyone’s right to use cannabis.

Some residents also agreed with the increased violations, saying it was to protect their property values.

Assuming you stay within the legal limits in your particular city, and provided your state allows it, High Times provides guidelines that focus on the pros and cons of growing cannabis at home.