Punished for Another’s Crimes: Humboldt County Demands New Owners Destroy Any Unpermitted Building Used for Cannabis Cultivation
Over the last few years, some new property owners in Humboldt County have been ordered to demolish buildings they thought they had just purchased because the County determined the buildings had been used by the prior owner to cultivate cannabis.
“It’s very confusing to get punished for something someone else did, that you wouldn’t do… to be guilty until proven innocent,” lamented Doug Thomas, a wildfire refugee from Southern California who recently bought property in Southern Humboldt. He and his wife and their twin autistic sons are dealing with looming fines and the loss of needed infrastructure that was included on the former cannabis grow they had purchased.
Background:
In 2017, months after Proposition 64 passed, the Humboldt County Planning and Building Department’s Code Enforcement Unit (CEU) began their satellite Humboldt Environmental Impact Reduction (HEIR) program, aka the abatement program. The abatement program aimed to stop unlawful commercial cannabis operations and environmental harm.
Humboldt County Supervisor districts [Image from the Humboldt County website]
One of the unintended outcomes of the abatement program is that it made purchasing property in the County a possible liability, particularly in the rural regions where the majority of abatements are given.
According to last year’s Code Enforcement Annual Report data combined with last year’s data featured on this year’s annual report, District 1 saw 10% of total cannabis related abatement notices (and warrants), District 2 received 70%, District 3 saw 2%, District 4 only .07%, and District 5 received 17%.
This year’s Code Enforcement annual report.
During the past year, the abatement program appears to be hyper focused on unpermitted structures across the County that were allegedly associated with cannabis at some point in the past. Despite past property owners having paid taxes on these structures oftentimes, the County’s current stance is, a retroactive permit cannot be obtained for structures associated with cannabis. The building must be demolished by the current owner, at their own expense. Code Enforcement does not care who caused the violations, when they occurred, or if they are ongoing or not, the new owners inherit what comes with the land, (logging legacies included). This is true even if the person who created the violations is known, and still in the area.
Past property owners, who are often responsible for the violations; sell their property while skipping out on the fines and cleanup costs, with no punishment. Meanwhile buyers have the potential to be vulnerable to demanding timelines, threats of fines (sometimes in the millions of dollars), demolition expenses, expert, legal and administrative costs for the “crime” of buying property in Humboldt.
The Thomases
The Thomases are retired professionals in their 60s and 70s, and recent fire refugees from the Malibu area of Southern California. They caretake their grown autistic sons, and live with a family of Shih Tzus which they charitably raise as therapy dogs for people who have autism. They call themselves “retired,” but they certainly don’t act like it.
Corrine is a writer working on her second book now after publishing her first called “Miracle Run, Watching My Autistic Sons Grow Up and take Their First Steps to Adulthood.” She worked as a paralegal, in finance, real estate and other industries. Since 1973, Doug has worked building sets for the film industry, starting with “The Waltons,” later “Ghostbusters” and many more. He is quite the handyman to this day, and is managing the remodel of their new home.
Corrine, Doug and their children are well-known for their philanthropy and activist work around autism. They manage fundraisers and have traveled the world as keynote speakers to raise awareness. They were featured in People and Yes Magazines, and on the front page of newspapers for their work, and are friends with a number of celebrities and influential people.
They have an award winning film based on their challenging and equally heartwarming life story called “Miracle Run.” The film traces Corrine’s uphill battle as a single mother, who discovers her five-year-old twins have autism. Ten years later, having overcome so much adversity, she meets Doug after he was hired to fix a broken pipe in her rental home. It was instant romance and the kids just adored him.
Their happily ever after Hollywood ending was threatened however in 2019. While Humboldt County was enduring a record breaking fire season, residents in Southern California were battling one as well. The Woosley fire stretched from the Malibu coast and consumed 96,949 acres in the suburbs of Los Angeles. The fire took the life of three people, caused the evacuation of 295,000, destroyed 1,643 structures, and cost at least six billion in property damage. One of the structures lost was the Thomas’s family home in Agoura Hills.
Nothing could hold this determined family back though, they dusted the ash off their pants and decided to make the best of the tragedy by starting a new life in Northern California. They packed up one of their 39- year- old twins in their new RV, bounced from campsite to campsite, and after three years of adventures, they found their dream property– thirteen stunning forested acres off the Avenue of the Giants in Southern Humboldt. One of their twins headed to Texas to work and live with his older brother briefly while they got settled and is eager to return soon.
Flock of wild turkeys in the Thomas’s front yard. [Photo by Nikki Norris]
Doug explained as he looked up at the towering Douglas firs overhead that they were “drawn here by the redwoods, and the forest. It’s a great place to retire, and it’s especially healing for the boys.”
The parcel features an existing two bedroom house and a large barn, which was another reason they settled on this specific property. Doug felt the barn was ideal to accommodate the storage needed for his restoration work.
The Thomases purchased the property through a local real estate company in September 2021. The agent did not alert them to an abatement or a title issue before closing escrow. The realtor did inform the Thomases of the property’s cannabis raid history, but they did not say the building might have to be torn down or penalties could be attached to the property.
Ten days after escrow closed, the Thomases received an abatement notice on their gate alleging they were in violation of the Commercial Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance (CCMLUO) and they had to remove the three story barn, and all items that could be related to cannabis such as empty garden pots they planned to grow food in– all in ten days or else they might incur penalties of up to $1,080,000.
The three story barn that Code Enforcement wants the Thomases to demolish.
Doug said, “12,000 a day, that’s almost $100k a week, this is extortion at its best.”
The Thomases say they had actually never seen a growing cannabis plant in person, or heard of an abatement before moving to Humboldt County. Doug said, “It’s a total mafia type of deal…and it was hugely stressful for us to determine what to do about the notice, having just moved here, all during COVID, in ten days, including two weekends, one of which was a three-day holiday.”
The unpermitted structure in question is a well-built, three story barn, with a concrete foundation that the previous owners had grown cannabis inside of. The Thomases have cleaned the barn extensively since. They removed all wiring and ducts, and have taken dozens of loads of trash to the dump. Doug is currently working to improve the electricity and septic on the property, though, all permits are on hold now due to the pending abatement.
Interior of the building taken from the ground level.
The previous owners were rumored to be a part of an profitable underground cannabis operation under an LLC that was busted twice for cultivating cannabis in relation to the structure in 2019. The resident co-owner of the property was facing criminal charges, and he fled the country before being sentenced. Humboldt County did not serve him an abatement or demand he remove the structure when he was raided, or before he took the money and ran.
The Thomases are now being tasked to take on this burden three years later. The cost to remove the structure is estimated to be $150,000, not to mention the lost property value and storage space. The Thomases told Code Enforcement they are happy to get a retroactive permit, but feel that forcing them to remove the barn, at their expense, is unconscionable.
Doug stated, “It’s just like saying you are responsible for a crime when you buy a car that was used for a bank robbery in the past, and then they put you in jail for the [prior owner’s] crime.”
Another room in the building that was once used to cultivate cannabis by the previous owners.
Corrine said there should be exemptions given on a case by case basis, especially for seniors and disabled folks, adding, “A case-by-case process could determine the intent (and so liability) of the property owner, the rights of the property owner, and a more feasible and fair process for Code Enforcement to apply this law…We are seniors and have a disabled son living with us, a large expense of demolition could decrease his quality of life. The Americans with Disability Act may have to be applied for extensions of time, certain building permits and other accommodations.”
Local Attorney Eugene Denson* who specializes in abatement cases like these, stated, “Humboldt would be a better place with more people like these as resident property owners. We should be welcoming them with open arms, and grateful they chose to live in our county. If this is the way that people like them are treated, no one in their right mind would buy property in Humboldt County.”
The Thomases are not the only family who bought their home with no knowledge of any pending nuisance abatement attached to additional structures on their land, and who, despite not being guilty of commercial cannabis cultivation, now face costs and headaches they did not sign up for.
![The porch of a small home that was demolished in Salmon Creek per the direction of Code Enforcement in 2021. [Photo provided by Corynne and Matt Selino]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/image25.jpg)
The porch of the small home that was demolished in Salmon Creek per the direction of Code Enforcement in 2021. [Photo provided by Corynne and Matt Selino]
Corynne and Matt Selino are a young married couple, building their life in the rural, small farming community of Salmon Creek, just west of Miranda. Once upon a time the community was a mecca for self-sufficient back to the landers, who often lived off-grid in their unpermitted, owner-built homes. That legacy lives on today, though Humboldt County Code Enforcement has made the dream increasingly unattainable for young families.
Corynne volunteers on the Board of the Salmon Creek Volunteer Fire Department, (SCVFD), which has seen better days financially since legalization. She is currently assisting in the creation of a fire district in order to qualify for grants, increase fire preparedness, and help organize a massive fuel break project around the 35 sq. mile community with approximately 250-300 residents. She also teaches at the Salmon Creek Community School, which she helped reopen this month, after it closed in 2019. Matt is an integral volunteer firefighter at the Salmon Creek Fire Department, and together they run a small permitted cannabis farm on another property.
They bought their sixty-acre property and “forever home” in October of 2020. Some bonuses that came with the land included an extra unpermitted house, and an unpermitted 50 x 80 ft metal barn on a permitted concrete foundation.
The front of the 4000 sq. ft. metal building that came with the land taken on the day that the Selino’s were raided.
Corynne says she proactively called Humboldt County Planning and Building Department right after she bought the property to get the structures permitted through the Safe Homes program, which allows residents to retroactively permit structures, including homes without paying fines. She discovered the grace period for the program had been extended beyond 2022, so she opted to put that project on the backburner and focus on helping to keep their small permitted farm afloat.
Corynne said, “It was a very busy year on the farm. Time and resources were scarce.”
Corynne and Matt were in the process of donating the 4000 sq. ft. metal barn to the fire department. The existing SCVFD structure was built in the 1970’s, is only about 1/8th in size of the metal building, and approximately 15 minute drive (without traffic) down a very narrow, steep, pothole-riddled road, in a different, highly populated area of Salmon Creek.
The structure donation not only promised to significantly improve the rural, high fire danger zone community for managing emergency response from all directions, but to most effectively handle evacuation and emergency responder safety. It would also increase storage capacity significantly, allowing the SCVFD to upgrade their equipment, and subsequently answer more calls to assist neighboring departments.
Dan Gribi, from the SCVFD said expansion was on the horizon and explained, “[Matt and Corynne’s] building is… situated in an area that would be a very good place to have an engine.”
![SCVFD current coverage area and the proposed structure location’s potential coverage area. [Map Design by Noel Soucy]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/final-map.jpg)
SCVFD current coverage area and the proposed structure location’s potential coverage area. [Map Design by Noel Soucy]
On the seventh of July, they received a notice of abatement on their gate that threatened $90,000 in fines, for the unpermitted building.
Alleged violations and penalties proposed for up to 90 days.
Corynne and Matt worked without representation initially, as they attempted to resolve the notice of violation directly with the County.
Corynne said, “We called Code Enforcement and spoke with Warren Black as soon as we got the notice and emailed him the same day as well. We told him they made a mistake, and invited them to come and look at the metal structure to confirm we were not guilty of cultivating commercial cannabis.”
Black told them Code Enforcement would come out for a site inspection and call beforehand. Corynne and Matt tried to reschedule several times, going back and forth between three officers, but expressed difficulties getting through to the county within the ten day timeline (including weekends).
The couple felt they went above and beyond to be compliant, but Corynne explained, “Each time we spoke to someone different, we felt like we were instructed to do something different, so it was hard to understand what they wanted from us.”
On July 21 they got a visit, but it wasn’t the site inspection they anticipated. Instead the Sheriffs, Code Enforcement, a Narco Drug Unit, Fish and Wildlife, and the Water Board broke their automatic gate and raided their property with a warrant dated for July 15th, only 8 days after the abatement was posted. Probable cause for the warrant was the large metal building and alleged commercial cannabis cultivation.
Matt’s parents were visiting from Connecticut that month and experienced the tourist experience of a lifetime, being held up at gunpoint by a handful of agencies for no apparent cause.
Corynne described the scene, saying, “It was really stressful, Matt’s father was stopped on the quad, separated from us [while] being interrogated by officers, as Matt was gone working on the permitted farm.”
Corynne said she was being questioned by another group of officers and had a gun drawn initially, as she grabbed paperwork from her truck. When she noticed armed officers heading into her home, she made it clear that her mother-in-law was upstairs in the shower, and so a female officer would be required. The officers told her there were no female officers available, and barged in the door.
“They came into our house with guns drawn, pointed at Matt’s mom who had her arms up as she was coming down our stairs. It was just so so traumatic,” Corynne said, nearly tearing up in disbelief. She added, “Think of a third grade teacher from Connecticut, innocently visiting her son and daughter- in-law on a family vacation, coming out of the shower and walking down the stairs only to be met by police, drug dogs and a narco unit.”
While onsite, Code Enforcement Unit found approximately 99 medical cannabis plants that officials claimed was commercial cultivation, a 400 sq. ft. basic hoop house and a permanent 10 x 14 vegetable lean-to style greenhouse, neither of which had an agricultural exempt permit associated. They were also cited for an unpermitted secondary home (their in-laws planned to fix it up, permit it, and then live in it someday) as a result of there being empty wire lines hung up inside, which is a common indication of cannabis processing.
“We just bought the property, I just hadn’t gotten around to cleaning the wire up yet,” Corynne explained.
Additionally, a few dried cannabis leaves were discovered in the 4000 sq. ft. building during the raid, which was enough evidence of there being a “nexus to cannabis cultivation for the shed as well,” Code Enforcement said.
Dried leaf found in the metal building during the raid. [Photo courtesy of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department]
The agencies did not cut their medical cannabis plants during the raid, but Corynne and Matt cut them to avoid any more issues, despite their both having 215 scripts, well over 5 acres and so, the right to grow 400 sq. ft. per the County Code.
Matt said, “The police told us medical no longer existed, and we were only allowed six plants.”
According to at least one attorney, Eugene Denson, who specializes in cannabis and Code Enforcement matters, this is an inaccurate interpretation of medical cannabis laws. Denson states,
The county and law enforcement have made a serious mistake about personal medical marijuana. The 215 laws were not changed at all by Prop 64, except that collectives were restricted and those cultivating for over 5 patients were sunsetted. It is still true that a patient with a 215 can cultivate as much cannabis as their medical needs require. In 2020 the county limited the space in which this can be done in tiers by parcel size, with 400 square feet being the maximum and that much area is only allowed on parcels of 5 acres or larger. According to county ordinance “The Board of Supervisors has determined” that each 100 square feet will yield 3 pounds. So 400 square feet should yield 12 pounds. Neither the county nor the state have any limit on plant count, but the harvest should not exceed a reasonable estimate of the patient’s annual need.
Corynne said, “Our goal is to be compliant obviously. We run a legal farm. Still the county raided us right after we gave them an open invitation to come out, and just because we missed their call… When I tell this story to our family out east, they are just completely confused by it. They don’t understand how we could do nothing wrong, and go through so much.”
Corynne commented on how the raid impacted her family emotionally, saying,
Having this happen really changes a person. Going down my driveway sometimes I can still see the county coming up, lining the driveway with lights flashing and guns… Seeing these officers in public now with my family, it totally messes you up. A lot worse things have happened to people of course, so I feel bad claiming we have PTSD, but that was a really traumatic situation that is still ongoing. Matt’s father still struggles with sleep issues since the raid.
During the raid Corynne said, Code Enforcement Officer Brandon Howton told them they could have fines of $22,000 a day for up to 90 days, totaling almost two million, though that figure seemed to change a few times throughout the resolution process. A couple months after the raid, they received a letter from Code Enforcement stating they had not resolved their case and penalties of up to $90,000 would be imposed.
The unresolved abatement letter. [Provided by the Selinos]
The dried cannabis leaves as they were found in the metal building during the raid, [Photo courtesy of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department]
Small lean-to greenhouse beside the small hoop-house area after it was removed
Corynne and Matt are negotiating with the county to save the small lean-to greenhouse from demolition by getting an ag exempt permit, however, the county was unwilling to work with them retroactively on the hoop-house, the massive metal building or their in-laws future secondary home.
Currently, there is an emergency shelter ordinance in effect in California and county-wide which acknowledges there is a shortage of housing. The Humboldt County Safe Homes program is now being extended beyond 2022 (date yet to be determined). Still, the Code Enforcement Unit demanded they demolish the home in late 2021, and Corynne and Matt complied.
Matt explained, “We’ve never been in trouble in our lives, this was the first home we bought together, we just wanted to resolve this and move on.”
After the raid, Corynne and Matt had a consultant reach out to the county on their behalf over concern that penalties were accruing due to their Code Enforcement Officer Brandon Howton being unresponsive. Howton was on vacation and when he returned a week later, he emailed their consultant.
Officer Howton replied,
Code Enforcement could bring penalties forward which have been, and still are, accruing. Instead, I offered applying for a demolition permit by Friday July 23, 2021, which would allow me to offer a no-penalty Compliance Agreement and give them ample time to complete the work.
“No penalties” means a $4,600 bill for the raid itself from the county, in addition to a hazmat fee of $500, $2,000 for the Water Board, nearly $15,000 in engineer and legal costs, $450 for demolition permits and unquantifiable volunteer efforts. “Ample time” to complete the demolition of the three unpermitted structures was six months. Corynne and Matt felt bullied by the timelines and threat of excessive fines, and subsequently the county convinced them to sign a compliance agreement.
Corynne said, “It was such a scare tactic…We were actively fixing all the other violations from the previous owner, then in October we received the agreement that we need to take the metal building down within 6 months or else.”
Corynne and Matt’s lawyer wrote to Code Enforcement in attempts to salvage the metal building to donate to the SCVFD.
Howton responded, “We do appreciate your clients working with and for the volunteer fire department; however, it would be unfair to treat them differently than any other persons in the same situation. I will mention we have had some individuals allow the fire department to do a controlled burn and use their structure for fire-fighting purposes. We allow this as long as all the debris is removed from the property afterwards.”
Corynne detailed in a Facebook post to her community, writing, “Code Enforcement has given us no choice but to demolish a massive 4,000 sq ft shop that was never used by us. When Code Enforcement arrived the only items in the building were a few bales of hay, a tote of pellets we use for amending our veggies and a dried cannabis leaf next to the hay…That leaf gave them enough proof to have us demolish the unpermitted building.”
There is no evidence that penalizing current owners for past owners’ wrongs, is helping to resolve unlawful cannabis cultivation or positively impacting the environment either, though, Matt argued, “Without a doubt, destroying property certainly causes an environmental impact.”
Matt felt it was ironic to claim that demolishing the building would serve the environment in any way, because the materials used such as Isocyanates, Amine catalysts, polyols, and Flame retardants are toxic.
Matt explained, “Considering the materials used, the cost and carbon footprint to build it, it’s just wasteful…and no matter how hard you try, the industrial spray foam used for the insulation is going to end up everywhere when we start ripping into it. I don’t want toxic chemicals over our property and in our water.”
Corynne laid out their thought processes, “It’s really messed up what happened to us, but we reflected on whether or not we really cared about this building enough to risk the fines? Though it’s an incredibly valuable resource our fire department needs right now, we decided it wasn’t worth the risk.”
After Corynne and Matt got a professional quote for demolition of $44,000, they opted to make a call to their community for help to dismantle the metal structure instead. In early March, about forty “Salmon Creekers” of all ages showed up to volunteer.
Salmon Creek community coming together to help Corynne and Matt disassemble the interior walls of the metal building. [Photo from Corynne and Matt Selino]
They planned to take the structure down to the foundation before their April deadline. However, they requested an extension and put the final phase of the demolition on hold, with hopes the County will reconsider given current extreme fire dangers in Salmon Creek and the County. They, and members of their community plan to show up to Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting to urge them to not require the building to be demolished.
Rhonda Olson
In Northern Humboldt’s District Five, widowed 62-year- old Rhonda Olson bought three neighboring Orleans’ parcels in August 2020, she said, “as a family and community service.” Olson’s dream was to provide low income housing for tribal members and her family. Her interest began when her daughter, who is deaf, lost her job at a hotel due to COVID and after she was unable to navigate the unemployment system, she became homeless.
Aerial view of Rhonda Olson’s parcels via Google Earth.
Olson explained, “I could not stand to see my daughter homeless, and my stepson needed a place to live too, so I bought the properties after the previous owner was raided and left town. My goal was never to make a profit on these places, but to provide much needed housing for Orleans. One piece is two acres that was logged in the 1980s, but is now a grape vineyard. I was going to subdivide to help two native hardworking women achieve homeownership for the first time in their lives.”
Little did Olson know her dream would be derailed, if not indefinitely, at least temporarily, as a direct result of an abatement attached to the three parcels, resulting from the previous owner’s cannabis cultivation.
Olson has lived in the county for nearly five decades, so she was hip to Code Enforcement’s abatement actions. Olson explained, “I specifically went into the title company to have them do a search for abatements and liens. They said there was a clear title on all three parcels. I would not have purchased the properties without a clear title.”
The three notices required her to do things like; remove cannabis that was not being grown, to remove structures she just purchased and planned to use, prove she had not graded in an area that had been logged, prove a thirty year old established vineyard was on stable land, to dispose of two greenhouses and solid waste the previous owner left behind, and “apply for a permit to make a restoration plan,” that “doesn’t exist,” according to Attorney Eugene Denson.
One structure on Rhonda Olson’s land intended for low income housing. [Image provided]
Olson contacted Warren Black at Code Enforcement the day she received the notices, she explained she was the new owner, the title company told her there were no nuisances attached to the properties and that she was not guilty of violations.
Black re-sent the abatement notices in her name.
Even though Olson was not guilty of the violations, she complied with the county’s demands. Olson initially submitted satellite pictures to prove a flat on one parcel was caused by a permitted logging operation in 1980. Black rejected this as evidence that the parcel had not been graded for the purpose of cultivating cannabis, and he clarified the discrepancies between laws pertaining to grading for logging vs. grading for cultivating.
One of Olson’s progress photo sent to Code Enforcement.
In an email to Olson months later Black wrote, “I received your email…where you stated that the grading was done for a timber harvest plan. Unfortunately, the fact that the flats were used for cannabis cultivation is why the violation exists. For normal timber operations flats are permitted but the moment they are used for unpermitted cannabis cultivation they will need to be addressed by a licensed engineer…Just an FYI, no permits will be issued for properties with open Code Enforcement cases.”
Olson was informed by Black that the three notices were connected, and she could not subdivide or obtain permits on any parcel until every violation was resolved.
Olson’s engineer completed a perk test on another parcel and confirmed the vineyard, surrounded by other vineyards, was indeed on established, stable land. Meanwhile Olson cleaned up, and regularly sent progress photos to Black, who encouraged her to continue her efforts.
The vineyard on Rhonda Olson’s property.
Olson said, “It was my understanding these parcels were cleaned up and ready for me to subdivide, and add septic for future housing.”
Olson caught the Supervisors meeting via Zoom on April 13, 2021 in which Code Enforcement Manager Karen Meynell said that no properties that were purchased with a clear title were later abated. Meynell asserted, “The new ordinance that was passed in 2020, allows us to record the notice to abate nuisance and the notice of violation which gives fair warning to anyone buying, when they do a title search that there are nuisances located on that property.”
Olson promptly contacted her Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone to alert him to the incongruity in her experience vs. what he was told by Code Enforcement. Madrone stepped up to assist Olson and emailed Director John Ford about the inconsistencies in Olson’s case.
Ford explained, “We always check property ownership, and it was checked one to two days before the notices were posted, which would not have caught the change in ownership.”
In April 2021, a “no penalty” compliance agreement was sent to Olson by Code Enforcement that she refuses to sign.
Olson explained why she refuses to sign the compliance agreement, saying,
I am not signing any contract with the County because I am not guilty of anything but buying property to provide low income housing…The agreement was full of threats and timelines I found abusive…If I did not do X, Y, and Z by a certain date, I would owe fines for something the previous owner was guilty of…Not to mention I wouldn’t be able to sue the county if I signed it.
Rhonda also received a bill for $15,000 for OnTrack “carryover fines,” between the County and the previous owners. Supervisor Madrone inquired about the large bill to Ford.
Excerpt from Rhonda Olson’s compliance agreement.
Ford explained his department made a mistake in an email to Madone, writing,
The language of the compliance agreement is something that is negotiable. We don’t need for [it] to say that Rhonda Olson allowed the violations, obviously she did not. The May 3, 2021 invoice [for $15,000] should not have been sent….We sometimes make mistakes, the language in the Compliance Agreement and the invoice are examples of this. If she would have contacted us, we could have and still can work this out.
Olson said she contacted Code Enforcement regularly, until she was advised not to when she retained a lawyer. Olson said she wondered, “How a government agency can make mistakes that cost residents millions? I’m glad the county admitted to making mistakes finally but their mistakes cost me sleep, money and so much stress. This is my life and property….it really feels like I am dealing with the constant pressure of an abusive spouse, and I just decided I am divorcing Humboldt County.”
The County has not pursued further abatement actions since Madrone’s email in the spring of 2021, though that doesn’t mean her case is resolved. A resolution sounds promising for Olson, but she is still in limbo today.
Olson said she felt the abatement program, “Is a part of a maximum pressure campaign that the Planning Department set up to extort money from the citizens of Humboldt County.”
Local Attorney Eugene Denson says, “The county demanding unpermitted structures be destroyed because they were used to grow cannabis in the past, is not corrective, it is punitive. These property owners are being held up at the legal equivalent of gunpoint by the threat of enormous fines, all if they don’t accept this complete injustice… I’m not so sure the county has the jurisdiction to do so either.”
Conclusion:
Notably, there are no comparable abatement fines for any other agricultural industry. For example, if a tomato farmer loses a few tomato leaves off their truck at a barn not permitted for storing tomatoes, they are not penalized and forced to remove valuable structures.
It also raises the question, why is the county forcing property owners to demolish structures because they have items in them that are not illegal to own. Extra buildings are fairly common to have on your property. Wire lines have a whole host of uses. Perlite, often cited in these cases, is sold in almost every bag of gardening soil. Planter pots are sold in most gardening stores, and personal and medical cannabis is legal in the county and state.
If Code Enforcement applies this standard to all structures countywide, and forces the demolition of every extra bedroom or garage that was once used as an indoor in the past, or demands the destruction of each unpermitted house with a few cannabis leaves on the ground, that would encompass a great deal of current properties that could otherwise be used for legitimate purposes.
There are estimated to be thousands of unpermitted structures in the county according to staff in 2017. Many residents feel the no-fine trade off offered by the Safe Homes Program, isn’t worth the risks associated with inviting the County to their land. The County acknowledged these community concerns in an October 2017 Board of Supervisors meeting. They stated, “Fear of county staff presence on rural properties and a general distrust of government have prevented many landowners from applying for and obtaining the necessary permits.”
The County has not made accommodations yet for community hesitancy with the Safe Homes Program, except to extend the deadline. Meanwhile the effectiveness of the program is still up for debate.
The re-criminalization of cannabis cultivation post Prop 64 via the abatement program has proven problematic as well, particularly due to the broad brush stroke painted that has retired elders, disabled, young families, and affordable housing developers caught up countywide. It has left many residents to wonder if buying property in Humboldt County isn’t an economic trap.
Corynne elaborated on how the abatement program and struggling industry is affecting the community, saying, “Property values are already going down. People are scared to buy rural property now after hearing stories like ours. It’s impacting the entire economy too. Think about all this time and resources wasted that we could have put into the fire department and school. I talk to so many store owners in [Southern Humboldt] who are really struggling. No one has money to spend anymore. It’s really sad.”
Some of the questions that occurred repeatedly while writing this story was “Who is ultimately responsible for disclosing abatement information to buyers; the County, Code Enforcement, Real Estate Agents, the Title company? Or are buyers on their own to navigate this brave new world?”
When we requested an interview with the Planning and Building Dept. Director John Ford, he expressed regret for not having time to do an interview prior to publishing, he acknowledged the concerns raised, and said policy changes will be discussed this Tuesday during the Board of Supervisors meeting. (See staff report to Supervisors here.)
Director Ford stated in his email,
This is a topic getting a lot of attention and we are taking an item to the Board of Supervisors to address this on March 22, 2022. From a land use perspective, the cultivation of cannabis involves both the act of farming and the infrastructure put in place to support the cultivation. Where there is unpermitted infrastructure (including unpermitted buildings) constructed for an unpermitted activity all is included in the violation. There may be situations where the building could be permitted for an existing permitted use of the property.
At the Board meeting, according to this week’s agenda, the Supervisors will presented with these options,
1)Continue with the current practice of requiring all unpermitted structures associated with an unpermitted cannabis operation to be removed.
Or,
2. Allow property owners and/or operators to prepare a plan and description of the non-cannabis continued use of the unpermitted structures they want to retain if zoning and land use allow for a legitimate legal use, the building is within the curtilage of an existing residence, that the building can be permitted, and there is not environmental harm in the structure remaining with the understanding that if subsequent unpermitted cannabis cultivation is identified the site will be subject to Day 1 penalties as described in HCC section 352-3(m)(2) of the Humboldt County Code.
We will touch base with Director Ford this week for any updates he has after the meeting.
You can make a three (sometimes two) minute comment at the Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting that begins at 9 a.m., either via Zoom/phone or in person in Eureka.
Click here for the Agenda.
Zoom/Phone Public Comment Instructions:
When the Board of Supervisors announce the agenda item that you wish to comment on, call the conference line 720 707 2699, enter Meeting ID 867 9922 7461 and press star (*) 9 on your phone, this will raise your hand. You’ll continue to hear the Board meeting on the call. You will have 3 minutes to comment. You may access the live stream of the meeting by using the following link: https://humboldt.legistar.com
*PLEASE NOTE: This reporter works for the Law Offices of Eugene Denson and will be speaking and working for a change to County policy.
In addition, please be aware that the publisher, Kym Kemp, lives in the same Salmon Creek neighborhood as the Selinos.
Note: An earlier version of this article used a different map of the Salmon Creek Fire responsibility area.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
I hope all of you sue the county they seem to be the criminals. These abatements are out of line unreasonable. It would be quite interesting to have an audit of every county official to see if their assets are in line with their reported income and put them through the same harassment if any proof of marijuana growing is in their past. I hope the attorneys go after this with a vengeance asd put our crooked government officials behind bars.
Just wait and see what is coming…
The 2022 Abatement program is going to be even bigger and more lucrative. Must’ve been why Director Ford was too busy to conduct a discussion.
Unlicensed plants and sheds beware… The eye in the sky is eyeing our check books!
They have a much better case against their real estate agents.
That’s what I say. Sue the realtors
I think the trouble is in the code. the idea that any object with any connection to any crime makes that thing illegal is ridicules. Like a car that was used in a bank robbery could be illegal to own. It just does not make any sense to me.
Not if they weren’t “asked” about any abatements. But why would you even have that thought cross your mind? Especially if you are not from this area?
Many realtors have a don’t tell if not asked policy. That is why you need a good realtor, not one who just wants money.
I think the county will continue to do these so-called “code enforcements” until someone or a group takes the county to court and wins. Until then the county will continue to roll the dice — there is too much money coming in for them.
What good is the title company if they don’t find the things attached to the land? What really are you paying them for — they don’t even catch to see if the taxes were paid on the property. The NEW owners are stuck paying those back taxes as well.
“Not if they weren’t “asked” about any abatements.”
Wouldn’t abatements be required disclosure?
I Do Enjoy how cops can Use your local Drug Dealers Cars or Assets forfeiture, and never destroy them, but instead of having the new owners pay to have the building permitted. Ask about the guy Mr. black who went around laughing about all the Lives he ruined signing abatements.
Caveat emptor, no sorrow.
Thank you for your thoughts.
Well, Lawyer-up and don’t expect anything to make sense in Humboldt County…
If you buy a pot farm, you should get some decent advice first.
Awareness is required to give good advice. That’s the point.
Almost every parcel in the county could be considered a “pot farm” by the same standards here, of a leaf and wire.
What are you talking about????
The land deemed pot farms are old busts and/or folks shut down due to abatement. Under regs,anything left involved with illegal cultivation must be removed entirely, pretty easy to find those rules.
They arent just showing up and saying that building is part of an old grow.
In case you havent noticed lots of folks grow food gardens, some even in hoop houses.
Are they treated like pot grows? No
Plus you are legally allowed to grow 6 cannabis plants. So a leaf or wire could be (gasp) legal. Those are not deemed illegal grows.
These facts make me unable to understand your logic.
You obviously haven’t been following these stories. Many non cannabis properties have been the target of abatement because of a greenhouse.
I’m talking about the evidence used currently that makes property a “pot farm” such as wire, planter pots, a leaf etc. police consider totes ample evidence for a warrant for example.
Um I work with non cannabis farmers who are abated regularly actually , I am one of them. The land I live on got abated for a lavender field mistaken as cannabis last year. If you don’t live in the rural regions it’s hard to understand, but literally 9/10 people I know in sohum (where 70% of notices are given with a fraction of the population) have dealt with some sort of code Enforcement action and often unjustly.
You must have missed my article on that very topic of vegetable farmers, including nuns getting abated for their greenhouse – https://kymkemp.com/2020/07/06/in-spite-of-the-pandemic-causing-food-insecurity-humboldt-county-residents-fear-using-even-small-greenhouses-to-grow-vegetables-because-of-cannabis-abatement-program/
What you are missing also is that growing cannabis is supposed to be legal. And Growing this plant is all many folks know in the hills but they have been systematically left out of their own industry and lost their livelihoods since legalization. What do you suggest people do with no jobs and all of the sudden ? The legacy belongs to the small farmers (some weren’t allowed to get a permit ), those who are getting abated. The majority of abatement victims are 10k sq ft and less in size.
The people featured in this story followed the rules. Medical cannabis is a topic for an upcoming article.
Legal within tolerances. The total absence of the reasons for such limits in this article exists speaks to those who want to keep on doing what they were doing when that doing led to such pettifogging rules. It’s like a teenage who justifies doing something they know is prohibited by saying “well, you never said” some specific that was different. So the parents get specific. And everyone is squeezed by the process. It gets ever more difficult as one group tries to limit more specially and the other keeps trying to wiggle out of it. Fairness is lost in the pursuit of specifics.
Legalization has been an excuse to recriminalize cannabis. The narrative that there are god guys who got permits and bad actors who didn’t, is blown way out of proportion in order to justify lovely people like this being harassed more often than not. You are perpetuating the narrative but that doesn’t make it true.
The government has the literal license to kill.
Who is the government?
It’s the people who enjoy making decisions for other people.
That you wrote this article from that viewpoint makes it clear that no thought was ever going to be given to why that might not be true. That makes this an opinion piece and it should have been labeled as such. Not that much in the Cannabis Cache is devoid of that bias. Of course bad actors need to be taken into account. You apparently think that, once they have been shut down, they still get to profit from doing bad by selling the assets of their wrong doing. The only thing that needed resolution is that such a liability should have been recorded in liens by the county on the title. Which some comments indicate it now is. The law did not screw over these people- the seller did. Which is not that uncommon among the lawless.
I am sorry if you do not share the same opinion, welcome to being human. If you are getting your “news” from people without a point of view that is concerning. Is there such a thing as a human without an opinion? There is an entire statement about my activism and work in the article, its not a secret. I have opinions about how to help our community yes, most people who have seen what Ive seen, would.
I am also not a J-schooler, I am a self taught freelance reporter (with the help of epic editors) passionate to see changes made. I know its unusual but I advocate to empower the individual not the corporation, and for my community, and the environment.
Its baffling to me why its so hard for folks to wrap their minds around journalists reporting on abuse of power, while the abuse of power is coddled constantly on every other news station. Please share a single other news report on victims of the abatement program which has extracted millions from mostly sohum. I can find a couple reports where the outlets allow the government to lie to the public and the victims have no chance to comment, but that’s it. Is it possible that you are just not accustomed to the little guy having a voice?
I am capable of balancing my opinions and my work, but no, I will never be silent about injustices.
Repeal of the Smith Mundt Act
It’s definitely the county that’s screwing the buyers, not the sellers.
The county doesn’t care who it’s screwing, as long as they get to screw someone, they will gladly screw someone from out of the area. To them, money is money, they don’t care where it comes from, or who they cheat out of it.
The assessment of every property in Humboldt should be adjusted downward in a big way just because of this, and taxes should come down with them, commensurate, to the resulting devaluation, automatically.
Ford’s house of cards, and whoever is in on this with him, is the house that should be taken down next.
It’s so crooked and slipshod and vindictive, it isn’t funny.
They are trampling people, totally treading on them, running roughshod over us all.
It’s unbalanced justice.
Thank U for your artices on this matter. Keep at it
Thank you sister!
This is what really gets under my skin. “Under regs. anything left involved with illegal cultivation must be removed entirely.” just does not make sense. It’s the code that seems to be unjust, and unconstitutional.
great advice get ahead before your behind dont let them march you around in a confused state.
“The Thomases purchased the property through a local real estate company in September 2021. The agent did not alert them to an abatement or a title issue before closing escrow. The realtor did inform the Thomases of the property’s cannabis raid history, but they did not say the building might have to be torn down or penalties could be attached to the property.”
Kym – Shouldn’t this local real estate company and realtor be named?
I don’t think it would be fair to mention names here. I spoke with 3 agents and none of them knew enough about this program to advise clients and I imagine that’s true for most agents in the county. Ed is one of very few lawyers who even understands what is going on. He is one of like two who have taken these cases through the appeal of the appeal.
It’s not any one agents fault it’s just new territory and everyone is trying to navigate it the best they can. I hope agents speak up about this trend at the supervisors meeting Tuesday though, at some point they may be held liable for not advising clients of these issues they are not aware of either. What’s the court case hassen v….
So the advice from real estate agents should be, don’t buy property in Humboldt? You might have to tear everything down because of past cannabis cultivation?
That’s what I’m getting out of this. Kind of like any property mau have buried toxic waste that nobody knows about but as soon as you buy the property then YOU are legally responsible for it. What a chill this should put on selling ANY rural property in this county!
As opposed to the idea that nothing should be done with the toxic waste because they were ignorant? I think that much of the marijuana taxes raised should be used to rehabilitate such properties. But to do it, the property has to be removed from the ownership of the responsible party. Which can’t be done apparently.
Agreed. It all means “Buyer Beware” but I do think it should put a chill on rural real estate sales. Not because of toxic waste but because of decent structures that got branded as “evil”.
The seller should be liable for the cost of the condemnations, which knowledge was withheld from the buyer. The property should have been sold at a price that reflects the liabilities that are on record. Just as someone buying a property that has remediation needed by county ordinance knows to factor that into the price they are willing to pay.
Then the only people who suffer by the wrong doing are those who did the wrong doing when they get a reduced price. Actually that would be an incentive to avoid wrong doing and, if they don’t, the buyer still gets what the property is worth.
It’s real risky territory yeah, I’d quadruple check with every possible department. I just hope policy changes are upcoming. This isn’t the only instance of punitive actions from code Enforcement’s HEIR program. The whole premise of criminalizing people who couldn’t get through compliance was a bad idea from the start. Where is the incentive for the same department to get people permitted if they capitalize on them not being in compliance right?
well put.very valid point.
Exactly.
If they made getting a building permit next to impossible, or more like, impossible, (they have, for many decades…), took tax money on the improvements, and now want those unpermitted structures torn down, it’s corruption.
The fact that the concrete foundation and slab we’re permitted shows a good faith attempt to work with the planning department to do things by “the code”.
The paperwork involved to try and permit the building itself, if it exists, the county should disclose, and the reasons the county didn’t approve it, after approving the foundation.
Was it due to a mid project change in zoning or land use during the general plan update?
Many of those changes were arbitrary bullshit by the county, and could have affected a project negatively, during the course of construction.
The building department for many years advocated for non development of certain areas, as lame as that sounds.
A planning department that advocates zero growth?
The harder they made it on every one else, the easier they made it on themselves.
No one in their right mind would even enter or contact the planning department.
They have always been associated with being a complete nightmare.
It was akin to sticking your neck in a noose, while shooting yourself in the foot.
And the Amnesty program?
They used that as a trap. Still are it seems.
That was a fraud.
If I didn’t know better, I would say that your comments, were my comments…
We think a lot alike, and I would say the same exact things…
Thank you for your input, that appears to be confirmation of mine…
Not if you make sure everything was permitted.
There are lots of unpermitted structures all over the county. Many are well-built enough to be permitted. But this story is illustrating that the county won’t allow that and wants them torn down. Major waste in many ways….
Most real estate agents do know about the abatements, and in some cases tell the client oh that won’t affect you, knowing that it will… It’s like buying a car the salesman has to sell a street legal car or explain what needs to be taken care of before it can be registered….Escrow is supposed to find these things out also before closing! There is no excuse for new owners to be ambushed after a sell!
There is plenty of not asking and not telling on the part of purchasers as well as sellers. It is a process that misused from many directions.
Would title insurance in any way help address some of these problems?
I agree that the agents know exactly whats going on. I’m not sure of today’s requirements but I know for sure that over a year ago the common Residential Real Estate Purchase Conract or Disclosures specifically said as a line item: Has this property ever received an abatement? Or, something very similar. So there should be no excuse for a buyer not to know there is an abatement if the Seller is honest and you are buying from an agent. You should be able to go back on the Seller if they have not disclosed the abatement. This would not apply if there is no agent involved. We have found that Title Insuranse is basically worthless, when you need it its good for nothing. The County should have an updated list of abated properties accessible to the public at all times, not that difficult. Escrow is another story, if the County is lagging it may not show up in Escrow. The things this County does and gets away with is absolutely sickening!
Thanks, this is really interesting on that matter! https://www.wolfflaw.com/california-law-on-disclosure-duties-in-real-estate-sales-and-lia.html
I definitely wanted to dive into this too, but it was already too long, its the topic for an upcoming article for sure. Hopefully with some real estate experts, Ford and title.
The RE agents are indeed responsible…or I guess I should say irresponsible. Full disclosure of defects is a requirement in CA isn’t it? These are not very professional agents. In my opinion.
There’s certainly room for improvement but some might just not know because it’s so new is all I’m saying.
Apparently you never heard the story of the real estate agent, back in the day, that showcased the very same waterfalls. The waterfalls, on Salmon Creek, in fact, misrepresented, in order to sell four different parcels, to four different buyers, as if the agent didn’t know they actually weren’t on four different parcels.
Pretty shady.
I’ve experienced less ethical conflict of interest behavior myself, in relation to local real estate agents, real estate attorneys, etc.
Very unscrupulous withholding of pertinent, significant information, to streamline and manipulate a sale, and/or to mislead a buyer that a significant defect was somehow, insignificant.
Their “pros” alright, but some of them should be “cons”.
So true!! Been a victim of one of those unscrupulous agents ourselves.
To me, it was the attorney, actually, that was the most unscrupulous, but virtually all of the local agents, I’ve had no dealings with. I knew better.
They didn’t all lack integrity, but they maybe all weren’t as forthcoming as they could have been.
Or maybe, should have been.
The attorney, a scoundrel, a double-crosser, with an unquestionable, direct, conflict of interest.
Another “expert”.
Wow, no I had not heard that. Well it’s a good thing agents (typically) have insurance then.
agreed,i bet i can guess which local RE company it was down in the redwood s.
That’s funny, I flashed on the one that started out in, “The Jail”.
But I would not consider that one, “unscrupulous”…
That one is fairly new to the game, to be fair.
It could have just been a “rookie” maneuver…
Strasburg v Eastman
Any real estate agent anywhere knows to makes sure large structures were permitted.
I would wager 85% or more of “large structures” and homes in our rural districts are unpermitted so no, Im pretty sure real estate agents are in the business to sell property and make money.
Yep. Screw those sucker buyers!
This is why the realtor should be called out by name.
Would it be fair if I called these specific agents out and not the others who do the same thing? I wouldnt be surprised if this wasnt the norm, and again I want to give folks the bennifit of the doubt, especilly until I speak with them. It’s a topic for an upcoming article for sure though.
I suppose the 3 real estate agents you spoke of should not take the standard 3-6% commission from a property sale. If a real estate can’t keep up with local rules/laws, then they are not a true professional.
They certainly knew something but not enough. All these things are being worked out in the courts and sups chambers, there is no way to tell someone no one knows for sure.
Their job is to know
Nicole it actually Is the agents fault.
The agents job is to be knowledgeable about the properties they sell.
The sellers property disclosure has specific questions for the seller to answer like ” is there pending litigation regarding this property? ”
So a lying seller…OK there’s a lawsuit.
And no the agents don’t get to play dumb.
Mostly because this situation is absolutely known to be happening by everyone except the new innocent buyers.
Anyone remotely involved in the real estate industry here knows that abatements are everywhere and not just pot abatements.
It’s more endless war on the people.
I resonate with your sentiment absolutely. A war on the people, I feel it, it’s rampant and so well known to everyone but the buyers right. I studied real estate briefly, but I am far from an expert. Though I am absolutely aware of the legal liability surrounding these cases. After speaking with agents, I understand there is some contradition in the interpretation of the law (see the case I mention above).
However, I am not a lawyer and that is not something I should speak to as a reporter at this time, until I first speak with the experts and John Ford of course. Its an upcoming article though yes.
We went through the exact same thing in sonoma county. The county came after us for a remodel done ten years prior by the previous owner. Quite a mess that became. The county knows everything but waits for a vulnerable wealthy person to buy and then tags them rather than the fly by night seller.That’s my impression.we could prove that the county knew the previous owner did work without permits but waited until it sold to tag us instead of the person who did the work sans permit. I’d be curious how code enforcement came onto this property in the first place? Did they have a warrant? Or did they see that the property sold to someone from out of the area with deep pockets and swooped down like a vulture. Or was it part of a retaliatory complaint. Code enforcement operates on anonymous complaints much like a notorious branch of the nazi party.
So they’re not qualified to do their jobs. Yet they do them. Ergo. They deserve to be sued.
I’m definitely sympathetic to the land buyers; but if the abatement was recorded on the title it would have shown up on the title report. It should have been clear at that point what they were dealing with, if they read the report. I’m referring to the Thomas’.
Still, the planning dept shouldn’t be making life harder for residents in this county. A lawsuit is in order.
The abatements are only now being recorded on the title . The county changed the law enabling them to record them in oct 2020, years after the majority of the abatements were given.
It would seem that any property’s that had an abatement before the time that they were recorded as a lean against the property would be good to go.
This why you get a title report.
I havnt checked in with him recently but one of the first abatement recipients didn’t have anything recorded on his title for several years. He kept checking. I’ll be sure to ask about this when I speak with Director Ford.
Again I cannot stress this enough- every single one of these buyers and countless more that I work with have checked the title report to find it is clear, after an abatement. Would you like examples?
Here is one … to this day there is still no abatement recorded
…https://soundcloud.com/user-36434842-595812560/thestoryofjunkyardbob?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
That’s not exactly correct. When they first started in 2017, they were definitely recorded on title. I know this because I was a target of the first round when the program began. I cleared my property and subsequently received another round in 2019. These abatements were *not recorded on title but kept in house in the planning department.
Yeah I get folks had issues with abatements I worked with about 100. They were not recorded on the title, until Oct 2020 when the county was allowed to do so when they changed the law. See minute marker ~42 when the sups and ford discuss this last year https://soundcloud.com/user-36434842-595812560/humboldt-county-code-enforcment-units-report-for-2020-2021-feat-during-41321-sups-meeting?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
The county is recording them in groups as we speak, some have received them and some are about to. that is why this matter is so important to address.
That would be like saying you need to name the realtor after a house was found to have mold in the walls or a funky foundation.
You hire someone to inspect those things pre-purchase
. Its no different here. You need to research or hire someone to research the rules if youre buying an old pot farm.
It seems extremely obvious to me, Im not understanding why the buyers didnt just google it and see what the abatement program is like?
This looks like it might have been a cash sale. Believe me if this was financed this crap would be resolved with the title company or realtor.
I really feel if the abatement it’s not on the title report at time of sale/transfer of funds to bad so sad with the county. If the place is no longer in the weed game, Humboldt could use some new residents not beholden to the weed business.
No it’s way different.
Mold or termites in a particular home are Not being reported in multiple news sources. Its the agents job to provide all readily available information about the property and make the buyer aware.. Any agent that claims dumb about this and did not tell the buyers what’s happening are effing crooks.
Basically all the southern humboldt agents have been so coked up and dishonest for so long they never actually really learned the job. And now are Desperate to make a commission so are likely Intentionally Not Telling what they know!!! I truly hope the current innocent buyers have the money to hire attys and sue the shit out of these corrupt agents.
It should have come up in the title search.
yeah it doesnt
One very prominent title company is now refusing to do title searches or open escrow at all to facilitate sales of abated properties specifically to avoid liability for the title report that probably won’t show county abatements.
So yeah they know the county is a lying sack of corruption and refuse to be in the middle when the lawsuits start!!
Wow, thank you! I know it’s true because I work with these folks all the time, as unbelievable as it is for some here, this is actually happening. Can you please email me at [email protected] with a tip on which title company I should speak with? I so appreciate it, thank you!
How does the title company know which properties are “abated” properties?
I thought that was the problem, no way to know.
If it went through escrow it would have title insurance. That could be a route of recourse. Although if the abatements were posted on their gate after they bought it, then the county definitely needs to back off, end of story.
If the county had seized all these narco-properties like they should have, new ownership never would have been a option, and the land could have been restored and given to a new coastal national forest or given back to Indians.
At least slap a lien on the title before the growers try to sell, no need to punish non-growers..
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I agree that buyers shouldn’t be punished, but the county would’ve sold it to HRC or GDRC. Or some massive corporation. Maybe they would’ve given it to someone connected to the Board of Supes or something…
Well to be fair, if the county seized every property they found weed growing on they would have seized a hell of a lot of timber company land along the way
How about i seize your property? [edit]
In typical Humboldt fashion the criminals blowing up the indoor get to run off into the sunset with millions of dollars while the new property owners get left holding the bag. County extortion at its finest! Welcome to Humboldt. Where your neighbors are criminals and so are the county officials! Instead of welcoming new home owners without cannabis on their mind our county let’s them buy the property then fines the shit out of them. Wtf?! Are we trying to improve Humboldt or just run it into the ground? Bottom line: we need new county leadership! We need new supervisors!
I’m pretty sure the growers ran off to Oregon to blow up even bigger grows and destroy the market here. Wonderful community-minded people these are….we should hug them all with positive rainbow vibes
All the growers that moved from Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt Counties completely destroyed the market here in southern Oregon. I have two down the street that are from Hydsville they clear cut the properties and filled them with greenhouses.
Absolutely insane to have this abatement policy in Humboldt county, a county where so many homes have been used to grow mj.
County permit office has to put a lien on the property 1st so title search reveals the problem to potential home buyers before the transaction closes.
whoever came up with this policy needs to be fired and ostracized.
Would not doubt that there is some extortion going on by the permit office.
It seems like these people were trying to work with the county and got screwed over even more. You would think that the county would be glad that someone is buying and trying to make something of these properties. The planning and building departments think they are god and what they say goes. We have dealt with them to get permits and everyone tells you something different. The only helpful staff are the people at the front counter. We have a friend who is a contractor in another county and he could not believe what they do in Humboldt County , the money they charge and their time frames. I have dealt with ford before and he is a jerk and doesn’t back up what his employees say. Not everyone is treated the same for unpermitted structures.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse you’re not going to say I did not know to not do that and be expected to walk away with no consequences. It is about time we as a society did away with this cancel culture take responsibility for are actions with out crying it is some body elses fault.
@freejessie
NLM
I don’t think you understand the issue. Or “cancel culture.”
I’m pretty sure sonnyb is a comedic artist and attempting to be ironic, or he/she is very confused, but either way I usually get a laugh from their comments!
Sorry i call bullshit on the whole ignorance of the law is no excuse . This country has been creating laws for well over 200 years, and each state county and city has been creating laws every year since they were founded . For a person to fully understand and read each new law passed each year would take well over 3 months each year , thats if they had full knowledge and understanding of all prior laws , not to mention having to read all new case law to fully understand it , then there is the fact that so many laws contradict each other so much so that one must hire a lawyer to ensure they are correct which the lawyer might also be guessing as untill a judge makes a ruling some laws are so poorly written that even judges fight over what they mean. So i say this bullshit bullshit, all new laws should be written at a 5th grade reading level to ensure that all peoples can understand them.
A real estate agent should be called a fake estate agent if they cannot keep up with the laws. I am required to keep up with driving laws that change each year.
Woulda, coulda, shouda! There are so many laws written each year in this county and state that no one can keep up, even if you are a Juris Doctor. For the uninformed, it’s a way that professionals keep non-professionals off their turf. People have been attempting to have the laws written in newspaper English for at least 200 years. It seems the lawmakers to not want to hear it.
Well said and real good to know, thank you 🙂
Those who wrote the laws should be accountable.
Sonny,
You make no sense.
Can you read?
It is crazy to read an officer of the law still continues to draw a weapon when serving a cannabis raid.
A harmless plant that has never caused a natural death.
Any officer who pulls his guns out should be threatened or they are a sorry excuse for being a cop.
Think about it. A joint isn’t going to harm anyone but a gun drawn can accidentally go off a kill another human. Over what a plant that is again harmless.
This is ridiculous in 2021 when cannabis is trading on the major stock exchanges.
Do we really draw guns on citizens for growing a plant. What crime did they commit to justify a gun to the face?
Sheriff Honsal?
How did they harm society? Why would you have an officer draw his weapon on a cannabis farm?
It’s legal. It is now a tax evasion case not a criminal case. Leave your guns at home.
The delusion that a life of supplying a product to create a mind altered state never caused a “natural” death from the product is like saying prostitution is harmless and natural. Which isn’t true anyway. But the world in which it flourished is filled with harm.
Because it is similar to a naturally occurring activity does not mean it is harmless… especially when it is a source of revenue. Pot growing has historically been linked to all sorts of illegal activity from murder to environmental damage. It was created by those who treated laws with contempt and that contempt still is its defining characteristic.
Funny because prohibition made it worthy of a crime.
Take away prohibition like prior to 1937 and you had zero crime associated with this harmless plant.
You can’t overdose if you tried.
No please explain how it’s harmful?
“The effect was more pronounced and statistically significant after the opening of commercial dispensaries (+1.8 crashes/billion vehicle miles traveled, CI: +0.4 to +3.7, p = 0.020). These data provide evidence of the need for policy strategies to mitigate increasing crash risks as more states legalize recreational marijuana.”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31518764/
“Child welfare caseloads have increased since marijuana legalization, “specifically cases related to child marijuana exposure,” according to the legislative briefing from budget staff.”
https://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/23/drug-child-welfare-cases-colorado-have-increased-in-colorado-but-connection-to-legalized-marijuana-is-unclear/
You have fully lost the thread. My god
Wow. What insightful reasoning…
You’re out here trying to present the argument that cannabis is inherently dangerous to a community, even implying that it is directly responsible for deaths (despite no recorded incidence of this happening in its roughly 9,000 year use by humans). And your “evidence” is a study which says ,
///”fatal crash rates increased more in Colorado and Washington than would be expected had they continued to parallel crash rates in the control states (+1.2 crashes/billion vehicle miles traveled, CI: -0.6 to 2.1, p = 0.087), but not significantly so. “///
And an article which says,
///”In Adams County, the “vast majority” of drug-related child welfare cases that meet the legal threshold for opening a case involve opioids, cocaine, meth or heroin, said spokesman Jim Siedleck. “Our initial review indicates we have not seen any significant increase in referrals due exclusively to marijuana use over the past two years,” he said.”///
So you’ve got a study which shows a statistically insignificant increase in motor vehicle fatalities following legalization and a sensational headline on an article which says explicitly that cannabis isn’t actually suspected to be related to increased child welfare calls by the people who deal with child welfare calls.
So ya, “you’ve lost the thread” is amazingly more insightful than your contributions to this discussion. You should Google a little harder and see if you can find any actual evidence of cannabis causing harm. Or, ya know, you can just move on and pretend you successfully made a point about something
What’s next? The future could hold that every structure and property they reside on could be razed for ANY crime EVER committed by any landowner without notice to the landowner. This could include DUI, cutting a neighbor’s tree down, or mistaken guilt by jury befalling on an innocent landowner—anything the county desires. I say get rid of the people responsible for this overstepping and start over.
Don’t buy unpermitted structures. The building department is open 5 days a week with no appointment necessary.
Dean B
Funny because our property taxes reflect structures on our bill yet they are unpermitted from way back in the day. I believe class k buildings is what they called it 30-40 years ago.
So why does the county double dip?
Claim the buildings are unpermitted yet they collect tax dollars on your structures?
Seems a tad bit confusing to me
Because a tolerance based on the situation prior to a restriction is not applied after the restriction.
Tolerance can change over time and restrictions do change.
Please explain then why they collect tax dollars on unpermitted buildings?
You shouldn’t be able to collect taxes on a building you claim is unpermitted.
Not if you can’t sell it, that’s for sure.
Well they are different departments. Assessors job is to to assess value no matter whether permitted or not. Building and planning are responsible for the safety/ planning/ building side of things. Permits and all that.
Did you read the article? Remember the corrupt county building inspector?
DB
Is a building inspector for the planning department
For decades people have built sheds and barns w/o permits. When the county has found out they have added the values into the tax base and have charged taxes for them. So…the county certainly deserves some of the blame for the current situation. Aside from the simple reason that we should not be tearing down functional buildings in this time of severe homelessness and material constraints (inflation, increasing building materials scarcity, etc). John Ford is straight mean. The idea that somebody will throw up another grow in such a building is pretty much done- the markets have collapsed and are not coming back. There is no good reason to force people to tear down existing well-built structures except punitive- and he’s not even getting the guilty parties! People who want to work with the county to get these old grow buildings to pass code and get permitted should be greeted with open arms and celebrated because they are our future here…
Hear, hear, Farce. Material waste is stupid. Especially when innocent people are made to bear the loss.
Agreed, Farce. This is stupid, I wonder what the county officials are high on….
Yes. Thumbs up if I could. Once you start talking waste, you get get my ear for sure.
Don’t forget that the building dept. has only been around a short time, what happens when you by a place built before 1950?
You get hit with unsafe deforestation practices and building with toxic lead and asbestos. Was it union built back then? Permits and contractors licenses aside, don’t want to cross that picket line and pay that back alley fine.
Union built.
90% of the cabins in southern Humboldt are owner built is my guess.
No unions or contractors.
Mostly neighbors if your lucky
It is clear that the county government has exceeded it’s mandate and authority for existence. They should be fired and all administrative offices vacated immediately.
“…whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Well, the Declaration of Independence does not have the force of law but if it did, the next sentence might influence the “Rights of the People”- “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.” Somehow pot growers just love to think of themselves as the epitome of “Life, Liberty” and most completely the “Pursuit of Happiness.” And the hell with anyone else. Pot should fit right in with the definition of “light and transient” causes. It looms large only with pot lovers.
But it would be great if government could scrape up a little consistency. I watched a lawyer build a house in which he lived, in totally in an illegal wetland little by little, using de minimus steps that the county should never have allowed. But did they make him tear it down? No even considered.
We have a country from the Declaration. It most definitely has the force of law.
We have a country from the Consitutional Congresses. We had a war of seccession m the Declaration. With an implication of intent to form a new country. The Declaration is a statement of intent- like announcing you’re going to lose weight and get more sleep. The Constitution is a statement of how to do it- like actually limiting calories and going to bed on time. The Constitution doesn’t include any mention of “Life, Liberty” or “Pursuit of Happiness.”
And most conservatives lend heavily on the fact that those rights listed in the Declaration are not absolute. That there is no guarantee of life, Liberty or the Pursuit of Happiness being unlimited. The infamous “no guarantee of equality in results” oft mentioned.
I agree, they should also be criminally prosecuted for their unwarranted violation of privacy. I know satellite spying is not a crime but it should be.
I hope everybody is enjoying their “legalization”! Nothing like the feeling of being free and safe!!
Lmfao farce that’s your best comment to date!!
I don’t think that any of this will get better until we fire John Ford & replace the Board of Supervisors.
They have had years to develop fair and efficient planning practices and workflows. They have had years to hire AND RETAIN adequate staff to perform the work of the Department. They have had years to figure out how to carry out their legal responsibilities without extorting and terrifying folks. Something is terribly broken there. Planning leadership seems to serve entrenched power and business interests and not the people.
Fully agree. John Ford is a liar and not to be trusted. Now he has made our local real estate undesirable. Wait until this story hits the LA and the SF papers! Nobody will feel safe buying Humboldt County rural property…
Now, you are beginning to understand.
Seeing the force part of enforcement? The pot industry is collapsing so it’s time for the paper pushers to table the next round of taxation through threats of confiscation and incarceration. How does this action serve to protect the public? It doesn’t, it’s simply another vehicle of wealth transfer from your pockets to theirs. Recently I inquired about a building permit in a western Texas county. The clerks response, “That parcel isn’t in the city limits so you don’t need a permit. If it falls down on you, it’s your own damn fault”. That folks is what personal responsibility looks like. Good luck, you voted for it.
When doing title searches at the recorders office it’s pretty much a joke. You will not find liens, tax defaults nor abatement notices easily they’re buried deep. Sometimes, they are exposed, yet fraught with errors it’s a frustrating process trying to make sure that the title is legit. A lot of forged paperwork and massive recotding issues go suspiciously unnoticed until it’s time to make a transfer then it’s all on the buyer. No words ring truer than “buyer beware!”
I would file a lawsuit against the manufacturer for selling the building in the first place and anyone and everyone involved in the erection of the building, especially cement companies for delivering concrete to a building that apparently had no permits pulled, and the local building and safety for allowing unpermitted buildings to be built. Oh, and electrical and plumbing contractors who worked on the buildings. Class action lawsuits could be in order.
I might add real estate agents who should have disclosed this possibility or the folks doing title searches.
…and the judge would take one look at those lawsuits and say “These have no merit.”
Depends who your lawyer is. IF the judge knows that the layer you hired is expensive, they will give your case FAR more credence than otherwise.
The cement pads can be permitted even if the building was not.
Dont forget to inform your HOA while youre at it lol
Also, this insistence that structures be demolished rather than retroactively permitted seems terribly inconsistent with the County’s General Plan, Housing Element and environmental goals. Such a massive amount of waste!
Sorry but if you dont do your research its your own fault.
You bought an old pot farm and didnt check out the regs??? Dumb. Really dumb.
Classic priveleged folks,dont do their research then need others to help them.
So sorry you didnt take the time to read the news here and check out all the legalities. Its pretty clear. For 40 years at least.
Did you look at public documents related to said property before purchase? You easily can find if said land was busted before and look up the county rules about old grow site responsibilty. Thats on you.
You thought the county actually makes the sheriffs clean up the grows they bulldoze??? Ba haha haha. Our county does nothing for us. Next youll be complaining aboit the sherifffs not responding when you call them. Again, its how it is here,join the club.
We are more of a self sufficient community in part due to that, if you cant take care of things yourself you wont last long.
Im not feeling much empathy, you come from so cal wanting it to be like it is there without doing any research.
You are the people making it impossible for locals to afford property!
Hope this makes you leave, which you should cuz the planning dept isnt going to change.
This is how it is here. You can read tons of articles on it.
To that I say, maybe it’s been like that, but we can and should do so much better!
Iterate. Advance. Get better. Don’t be stuck in the past. Hold leaders accountable. Don’t use past wrongs to justify present inaction or future wrongs.
So, if a person buys a stolen car, they should be free to license and use it because “Don’t use past wrongs to justify present inaction or future wrongs”? This case is like having bought a car without a title.
What would happen in such cases as this is, that every sleazy pot grower would circumvent the law by a series of property transactions in which his illegal buildings would would be laundered and made permitted by selling to someone “innocent” who would sell it back to him. Like money laundering, it would be property laundering.
That laundering is already happening, for sure. And yes, buyer beware and do your research. But part of the article has to do with broken processes within the Planning Department. Those should be addressed. There’s a lot of room for improvement there.
Yes. Totally.
Great comment! You said everything in 5 paragraphs that the author of the article spent thousands of words not saying. I love to see these urbanites come up here and have to deal with the over reaching greedy liberal government they and their friends voted into place. We’re all fined constantly by insane unnecessary taxes by this state and county, “Suck it up Sunshine!”
Liberal government? Dude, you are out of your mind.
I apologize for the rude comment to the wonderful families in the article who are the furthest from deserving of it.
There’s tons of articles on the abatement program “duh”? Do share please.
So now according to “ Duh” you should in addition to using a title company and purchasing title insurance, read articles on laws related to Humboldt County cannabis regulations? Oh my word, 😂😂😂 This situation has to be so illegal. The county officials need to stop it already. They’ve already got so many accusations coming their they won’t be able to keep up !
That’s ridiculous! If title company performs a title search on a property and it comes back clean, the persons purchasing the property should be absolutely not held accountable for past deeds ! If the county didn’t record them, then I see a huge lawsuit coming their way . At the least the title insurance company would need to be involved!
Thank you for this much needed article! To punish the buyers who move into these places, clean them up, become tax payers and good community members is the real criminal act. Humboldt County needs to encourage people to do this rather than act hostile against them. The buyers should be able to have a Building Inspector come out and tell them what is needed to bring a building into compliance for a permit. To just tear it down is wasteful of time and money. So what if it was built for cannabis? Permit it and start collecting tax on it. A call to the county can let a prospective buyer know if there are abatements against a property. Real Estates agents are required to disclose that if they know about it. Warren Black is great to work with. Some of the others not so much.
Could the interview author please comment on and reference state real estate law that has something to do with a buyer has one year to resolve any issues with the seller/sale? May not help these people, but could help others.
Thanks for the heads up! yeah I was hoping to do a part two with Ford some agents, title and experts, giving advice on what to look for.
Please do.
I understand it’s out of your area, but this has been a major issue in Lower Russian river. Now that the real estate is valuable and changing hands in mass, the county has ransacked the area for code violations. It’s a similar situation it seems. Wealth moves in, the county wants to get their cut and wet their beak in the stream.
Thank you so much for the heads up! Yes this is happening all over since legalization. My hometown/county was possibly the pilot county for the abatement program I believe. They dont charge anything for fines in comparison though interestingly. Which raises some questions like- why is our county penalizing folks in the millions while Red Bluff charges 3k for cannabis violations? It sure feels like the abatement program is a sort of back tax in Humboldt County. https://www.redbluffdailynews.com/2017/09/20/residents-bring-concerns-regarding-marijuana-abatement-to-tehama-county-supervisors/
How are any of these exorbitant fines even legal? I am under the impression that county building code violations are punishable by a maximum fine of less than $1000. With a quick search all I could find was this bill leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=200320040SB567
It says this;
c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a violation of local building and safety codes determined to be an infraction is punishable by (1) a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) for a first violation; (2) a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year; (3) a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation.
So how are they pulling out million dollar fines for county code violations? These are misdemeanors.
I believe the abatement fines should be fought with the 8th Amendment as an excessive fine. It is obvious that the county is operating outside of the Constitution and should be prosecuted for their crimes against the Constitution and the people. The big question here is how and why does the county or state have so much power over private property? Who owns our property the people that bought the property or the state and the county? Another big question is why can the county steal private property and sell it for back taxes? It seems that making people homeless should be a crime in
itself. We the people need a Constitutional amendment that takes the power from the state that allows the state to tax and stangulate the people’s right to self determination…..
“Get up stand up don’t give up the fight” Bill Rogers
When it comes down to it, everyone is a renter. I rent from you. You rent from the govt in the form of property tax and permits. I miss a month’s rent, I get tossed. You miss a tax or permit, you get tossed. The difference is, an actual “renter” has more squatting rights, whereas an “owner” can sell or pass on their right-to-lease.
I suggest the next documentary they make should be called the “Ickey Shuffle.” Documenting the Humboldt planning departments code enforcement. Don’t forget that 3 story building held 100s of thousands of dollars in equipment I am sure is being used by one of the BOS family or friends.
Welcome to the war on drugs!
Why so sure? Got more to share? Or just bloviating again?
Based on overwhelming evidence of stealing dead peoples property. Humboldt government employees have a long history of theft or given priority over others based on the good ole boy club this is just our law enforcememt agency!
Dead bodies on land owned by politicians is another fun subject. Ya know the back scratchers that refer to dance cards. They all play nicey, nice with well known community members who have plenty of bones in their closet or should I say shallow grave.
Even if they do file a lawsuit against the county it’s going to be beyond costly. Who knows what the results will be. For example I had a misspelling on my title. It happened at the real estate office, handwritten. I noticed it and said something immediately,asked for it to be corrected. They did not hear me. They did not correct it and sent it into the county as such. Reported to county with the one letter misspelling added into my name. They would not correct it, it didn’t match my ID. I had to hire an attorney to file all the paperwork, prove the misspelling that was a typo of 1 letter. At the end 11/2 years later total cost around $65,000. A 1 letter error that no one was willing to deal with or rectify before the recording happened. BS no one cared, folks at the courthouse …oh you have to x, y, z. The realtor bumped on the same oh well road…when she made the mistake in the first place. And the attorney laughed all the way to the bank.
Bs.
Yep, Planning and Building found their new scam on how to pay for their 40% raise. How much do you think Esgil will get in hrs for these “projects”. Called it. Can we please get rid of John Ford now?
I was wondering where they were going to come up with the revenue from the 85% cultivation tax break. Back to the frivolous code enforcement abatements…..
Bingo! They gave an 85% break and a major time extension based on the desires of the Four Biggest Farms who would not pay last year’s taxes. Now they need money….Abatement Time!!! And yes- I called this out at the time of that cultivation tax protest…I can tell the future
Wow – talk about grasping at straws! Check that…leaves!
“Corynne elaborated on how the abatement program and struggling industry is affecting the community, saying, “Property values are already going down.”
Not that I can see.
Does the County provide a way to look up abatements?
Its certainly not common knowledge but I do records requests for that info on nextrequest. You can also go on accella (I believe is the new site) where it lists the planning and building dept history on each parcel
accela won’t show an abatement just permits
thats right, thank you! next request is your best option
Welcome to Humboldt county. I see a lawsuit against the real estate company for non disclosure.
We all knew it was horribly unjust to prohibit cannabis growing to begin with, just as we all knew it was a clear violation of privacy to allow satellite surveillance for code enforcement.
[edit]
Mendocino County just voted to begin the satellite surveillance revenue enhancement program. Enhancing revenue by extorting your own local landowners! Humboldt proved it is a money-maker….Expect Trinity to follow- none of them can resist the lure of new revenue streams that require more county employees who require more funding which requires more revenue etc etc
You would not believe the things that happened which prevented me from speaking out against this in Mendo. Its tragic, I know.
I would be curious what Mendocino county could do legally to silence you.
Oh gosh no not the county, it was someone close to me. I was supposed to be on the radio in Mendo to discuss this matter with ED before a big vote and I was not able to be there unfortunatly. I was able to speak out against it in the initial conversations, but I wish I could have done more to stop it. All they needed was to hear our stories and the outcomes. I have a very heavy heart about this. I love Mendo.
What you just explained is how we are all Co conspirators to our own Demise.
Because it once was, it still is? OK supes, based on that assessment, why stop at an island in the Humboldt Bay? Why not give the whole county back to the natives? Something about a goose and a gander. Oh, that’s right, there’s no money in that!!
You do not have to pay the abatement fines.
They are lieing to you. The county doesnt have the ability to make you pay any of these fines. The people who never signed a compliance agreement never had to pay anything at all. The abatement program was proven to be illigal and that is why they are not doing it anymore.
The county are criminals, dont sign the compliance agreement, they cannot force you to pay any of the fines.
They are absolutely still doing abatements lol
There may be some truth in this. There has not yet been a court case over these abatement fines regarding their legality. They take your money if you give it to them. If you do not they get attached to the land and presumably are extracted when the land changes ownership and title changes. Was this land’s abatement fees paid? Has anybody else been legally forced to pay abatement fees as a condition of changing ownership or passing it through to family members?
do county GIS maps tell what a property is zoned for? There was a big for town parcel with a home on it already for sale up the road from me and the former owner was advertising it as residential, ag, and buildable. realtors were advertising it as such as well. I thought something was up when developers didn’t buy it up. I looked it up and learned that it’s only zoned for single dwelling residential. can’t support multiple dwellings and can’t be used as a farm either due to location. frickin realtors, man
Any article that repeatedly offers age, disability or other empathic ideas to put a shine on a cause and are unrelated to the nature of the issue can not be considered as unbiased reporting. Why on earth does a very small rural family need a three story barn? Why did they buy such a property in the first place? To anyone not considering using it for conducting a business or converting it into equally housing, it would be a liability. It is likely there was an intention glossed over. Certainly insurance is unlikely to cover unpermitted structure and that would be a red flag to any purchasers with clear innocent intentions. Such a glaring hole in the information leaves lots of questions about motivation in writing about it.
Oh for heaven’s sake…
A strange concept that I have mentioned previously. Standards of Journalism and How They Make a Difference. Do you like the current situation of the wild spread of misinformation on vaccines, government and now Ukaine? (I leave off Trump because I know that it’s a lost cause.) Because that is only remedied what there are standards somewhere that recognize the importance separating the journalist’s opinion from the story. Why should every reader be required on every story to filter what is fact and what is opinion?
You mean, why should people think, or come to their own conclusions, when you can do it for them?
And this is from the woman who finds so many others engaged in “pettifoggery”…
Pettifogging looks inward to minutiae to devalue. This is principle looking outward toward to values. Learn the difference.
Consider other people actually believe their values are just as valuable as you believe yours are.
Perhaps they aren’t as impressed with your opinions as you are, nor the lofty position you place yourself in.
For instance, You seem to prefer a site where everyone even the site owner conform to your way of doing things, other people like the way the site is managed, the variety of subjects, reports, and freedom of speech, and that’s why they come here.
Pettyfoggery is an incessant focus on trivial minutiae. Ya know, like questioning why a “small rural family” would value a large barn or questioning the integrity of an author because you believe their presentation of a subject was too flattering while ignoring the question of why a county government agency would choose to wait 3 years and a change of ownership to take an enforcement action on a violation they know full well has ceased to exist.
[edit]
Well, that makes me want to vomit. And here I thought our County couldn’t get worse.
Well, that makes me want to vomit. And here I thought our County couldn’t get worse.
And BTW, Tubs v Indiana
Did you mean, Timbs vs Indiana?
That’s all I could find, but it does seem relevant.
It’s relevant because case law shows that the 8th amendment protects against excessive federally but no case law exists to stop states from excessive fines.
That LEAF!!! 🌿
HAHA LOLZ .
So 6 plants are “legal” and a single leaf is commercial. So DUMB!!!!!!
FUCK YOU HCSO, WATERBOARD, F&G, JOHN FORD, ABATEMENT GOONS, SAFE HOMES ACT, AND PLANNING!!
The search for power in petty bureaucrats seems to be never ending and it just makes them stupid and greedy, oh and righteous. That’s why they try to punish people for things the people did not do. Get a hungry and ugly and successful lawyer and give them at least 50% to go after the greedy bastards. Aim real high, negotiate a little lower and you won’t even have to go to court. I have seen it done is this county dozens of times.
Midterms are coming up , maybe northern California should try voting for NEW and DIFFERENT leadership for a change.lol. But we’ll see
Anyone else notice that google maps aerial photo was taken in 2015? I would think anyone thinking of purchasing property should consult google maps before, just so that you know what that property has been through.
Always difficult to see articles of crying dope growers comparing themselves to farmers. Given the violence, crime, and health issues humboldt has seen from the weed industry. I think the county is doing the right thing
I agree that there is a considerable amount of crime and violence that is associated with cannabis in Humboldt county. However, some of the families referenced in this article aren’t involved in cannabis and I don’t feel should be punished for others past mistakes.
Guess you can’t really make a statement on the military industry, and why you love war so much.
Humans are complex, yet easy to manipulate.
Why isn’t the county required to record notices of violation/abatement so that these matters show up in a preliminary title report in order that prospective buyers can be alerted. Humboldt county continues to be an unfriendly administration. They are ripe for a big lawsuit for overreach. And the real estate brokers for negligence, perhaps even fraud.
So if no one complies or pays property taxes and the county then offers the property at a tax sale, noone in his right mind will bid on it and the county basically has a worthless procedure available to them, and if the county can forfeit it, they are liable to correct all violations. Just musing.. And how does this affect deed of trust holders who sold the land with no violations. They cant foreclose and retake title without being responsible for the illegal actions of the equitable owner. The county is very wrong here. They need to rethink this problem or they face a huge tax revenue loss . If a building is built properly and complies with zoning, it should be able to be post permitted regardless of prior use.
I’m really beginning to hate this greedy county. Why is it all about the Dollar Almighty? What is wrong with them? Some of these builds are useful. I want this state and this county to stop Robbing, and holding homeowners and property owners hostage! I just want the madness to stop.
Many of us feel the same way. But I have not seen anybody proposing a demonstration at the Building Department yet. That’s one protest I would make a point of attending! Letters and comments all seem to roll off of John Ford’s back as he goes about his dirty business. He always cops to saying he is working at the supervisors’ behest. Maybe lean on your supervisor? But most of them just don’t care about the scattered rural population….
I think people are missing a crucial point stated in the article in regards to the Thomases. The abatement was served AFTER close of escrow. If the abatement didn’t exist yet, it couldn’t show on a title report. If it didn’t exist yet, a realtor (or Seller for that matter) couldn’t disclose it. If the Buyers were told it was previously an illegal grow (and I’m guessing they would be told the structures were unpermitted) how is the title company or realtors responsible to predict the future actions of the county? Not all properties with unpermitted structures get abatement notices. As long as the current and past facts were disclosed, I think it’s an unfortunate situation and the county needs to re-evaluate policies and enforcement. This is not a fair situation for anyone.
Little known fact. The property owner has a constitutional right to an appeal under the constitution. That is the law. Code enforcement is not judge jury and executioner. They just pretend that they are until someone calls them out for violating civil rights.
I’m not sure what you are trying to say. What does the property owners constitutional right have to do with my comment?
“The county should re-evaluate policies and enforcement”
how many people appeal these code enforcement violations? My understanding is that I was the first to demand an appeal under my 4th amendment rights. Guess what. County folded soon afterwards. Legally they owe anyone that has been a target of enforcement an appeal in front of the BOS and impartial jury including a local contractor.
Thats My point. No point in suing real estate agents. Etc. a simple demand for appeal would force the BOS to address the situation and egregious over reaches like this. Unfortunately nobody knows their rights or doesn’t care enough to exercise them.
This is in the fine print in Mendocino county code. It legally has to be there in Humboldt county also. Or any county in USA. Again, as result of 4th amendment. Case law has established this repeatedly as well. I’ve sent the case law to Kym previously
Thank you Kym for being one of the only voices exposing the gestapo tactics that are code enforcement in Northern California.
Code enforcement is acting as judge jury and executioner, violating the constitution in multiple ways.
Right. So technically approximately 40% of all houses in eureka and arcata should be abated and torn down. Hey that’s the rules, sorry. No double standards in Humboldt county.
“We are focusing our resources on the biggest and baddest”
Mendocino Sheriff Matt Kendall.
Our property has been raided 4 times for 6 plants.
So sad to read about people trying to make humboldt better and getting the shaft. Growing weed in the hills is worthless and we are about to see our local economy crumble. We can use all the help we can get! Come on ford. Get you head out of your own behind!
Simple solution.
File an appeal with the Humboldt county BOS. They are legally required to hear your appeal under the constitution. So few people know their rights. If people start waking up and demanding their constitutional rights to have a hearing with a jury of their peers for every petty and overreach of code enforcement, fish and game, the water board etc. the entire sh@t show that is “legal cannabis” would collapse…
Shhh. Don’t say anything. Don’t want to upset the wizard of Oz.
Ok, now I know why you’ve been raidedicated 4 times for 6 plants.
Government acting like a cartel
Cause deep down, there’s a little esCobar in all those government types.