HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-17-2015 PH1 LeeLomeli, Monique
Subject: FW: "Odor" Ordinance; perspective of a born and raised local BAR 19 X015
From: Ralph Lee [mailto:ral h rizlee mail.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2015 1:04 AM
To: E -mail Council Website
Subject: "Odor" Ordinance; perspective of a born and raised local
Dear members of SLO city council,
COUNCIL MEETING: l� is
ITEM NO. :_hV_I__
My name is Ralph Lee. I am a Cal Poly graduate and a born- and - raised local of San Luis Obispo. After
discovering the results of your latest vote and reading the 10 -page Council Agenda Report
subject: "Consideration of an ordinance to add an odor nuisance provision to the municipal code ", I struggle to
see any logic behind your council's decision.
Your report mentions that there are "health an safety concerns" regarding complaints from certain neighbors of
legal medical marijuana gardens with valid doctor's recommendations. How is a simple, mild, natural odor a
"health and safety concern"? The ordinance is not based on any logical concerns and appears to be merely a
way for disgruntled neighbors to have an avenue to complain about a garden they may just have personal and/or
political bias against.
By all means, burning trash in your backyard, utilizing dangerous chemicals to produce cannabis concentrates,
or hosting parties with 5000 people where roofs collapse and neighboring families cannot sleep, are valid
concerns for public health and safety. This, however, is not. It simply gives people who do not agree with the
fact their neighbors possess a valid doctor's recommendation to grow and use marijuana, a streamlined method
to voice their dissent by complaining about an "odor ". How can you enforce something that cannot be
quantitatively measured? A noise complaint can be measured with a decibel meter. The harmful effects of
burning trash or using dangerous chemical can be measured as well. This proposed ordinance gives too much
power to resident's personal /political opinions by making 3 complaints a "valid concern for public health and
safety ".
If it is (in your opinion) a valid concern for public safety, it must be clearly defined and quantitatively measured
to show the potential for actual negative impacts /dangers on the surrounding community. "I don't like pot; It
stinks" is not a valid concern for public health and safety. Based on your previous attempts to eliminate outdoor
growing and delivery service collectives, it appears to me (and others) as merely a way to enforce certain
residents' personal biases towards medical marijuana by making it more difficult to grow and consume, legally,
which would seriously hinder the abilities of patients to receive the medicine they need in order to treat serious
ailments.
As one critic mentioned in the Tribune article from March 18th, would complaints about the smell of
barbecuing become valid as well? What would stop certain residents from teaming up to fabricate imaginary
"odors" to oust their neighbor out of doing something that is otherwise legal and has no real health/safety
consequence on the surrounding community? Are those stinky purple flowers that smell like onions going to be
labeled a "concern for public health and safety" if 3 people complain about them? If this ordinance passes it
would be BAD LAW.
I hope you can set your personal biases towards medical marijuana aside and focus your time and our tax
dollars towards ordinances that are actually in the interest of public health and safety.
-Ralph
(805)748 -9414
PS: If there are any openings to voice public opinion at your next council meeting, I would like to reserve a spot
to share the perspective of legal, responsible, medical marijuana patients and growers in San Luis Obispo.
Thank you.