Dear Menlo Park City Council Members, I am writing to you about the upcoming vote on extending the moratorium on personal outdoor cannabis cultivation. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the November 14 meeting. Please do not lump together commercial cannabis businesses into the same category as personal outdoor cultivation. These are very distinct items and should be treated as such. I am only arguing against a moratorium on personal outdoor cultivation for a number of reasons. One is that the medical marijuana laws still permit patients to grow outdoors. This will create confusion especially by police and possibly neighbors about whether an outdoor garden is legal or not, making enforcement difficult and error prone. Not allowing outdoor growing will force some people to move growing indoors. Indoor growing is dangerous and a cause of many electrical fires, not to mention a waste of electrical resources in a city that is trying to be green and has goals for 100% renewable power. The dangers of indoor growing outweigh the potential dangers of outdoor growing. Outdoor growing is limited as it can only occur during particular seasons, whereas indoor growing is 24 hours a day all year long. Personal outdoor growing already has a number of restrictions such as being out of public view and in locked spaces. These are reasonable restrictions for allowing this activity. It will be hard for you to make a case that there is urgent public danger by extending the moratorium, especially considering the possibility of more dangerous indoor growing, thus subjecting the ordinance to possible legal challenges. The Town of Portola Valley recently found this to be true and decided not to extend their moratorium. People like to grow their own cannabis for the same reasons as those who grow their own vegetables or grapes: being able to select your own varieties, knowing your product is organic and not tainted, being self-reliant, saving money, saving energy. 32 years ago I moved to Menlo Park and I recall going to Keplers and finding many books on marijuana growing, and thinking this was a liberal and progressive city. The citizens of Menlo Park voted for legal marijuana and the right to grow it outdoors. Please let them do it. Mark Lottor Cathy Place Menlo Park Received on Wed Nov 08 2017 - 00:34:33 PST
