A farmer here in Chimacum is making waves about a marijuana growing operation next door to her place, without notifying her. No license to grow has been issued to anyone in the Beaver Valley where she lives, and as is custom throughout the country notification to neighbor farmers is not needed.
She’s pissed because the county officials refuse to talk to her [then she details no less than 5 conversations with the appropriate officials], complains of the water use [all grow operations so far authorized by the state have failed to meet the minimum usage requirement to justify permitting], is concerned by the “waste” output [there are no substantial waste products from a grow operation, and all are strictly regulated], worries about the lighting use [lights are used for indoor grows, only an idiot would use lights outdoors], and wants the county to impose special regulations on marijuana grow operations.
The county is being very wise here. Jefferson is a sparsely populated county, though of large land area. 90% of it’s land is Olympic Mountains wilderness, some is forest, the Port of Port Townsend runs the maritime stuff, leaving some houses and farms under it’s jurisdiction. Villages and towns have most of the houses, leaving farmland.
I spend time in the Yakima Valley every summer, at exactly the time mint is up for harvest. The intensity of the odor has kept me awake at night, as have hops. Now, for Yakima County to regulate or prohibit the growing of these products would be economic suicide, as their value is ridiculously high. Jeff doesn’t have those crops to worry about, but focusing in on any crop a farmer wishes to raise would generate quite a backlash from the farmers.
Thanks to the generations of experience from the growers in Northern California (and British Columbia), cannabis production techniques are extremely resource low, and there is a proven direct relationship between following high standards and profits.
Ms NIMBY is making noise, but it will come to nothing.