The Mount Shasta City Council at their meeting on June 8 will now have the option of adopting the initiative outright, or placing it on the Nov. 3 ballot to allow voters to decide, said Mount Shasta Deputy City Clerk Kathy Joyce.

After a coalition of Mount Shasta citizens obtained a court order instructing her to do so, Siskiyou County Clerk Laura Bynum certified a petition that seeks to curtail industrial cannabis in Mount Shasta city limits last week.

The Mount Shasta City Council at their meeting on June 8 will now have the option of adopting the initiative outright, or placing it on the Nov. 3 ballot to allow voters to decide, said Mount Shasta Deputy City Clerk Kathy Joyce.

Bynum at first rejected the petition due to a technical issue – the Keep Cannabis Away from Kids coalition failed to submit an affidavit to the city in the required timeframe. However, a writ of mandate, dated May 11 from the Siskiyou County Superior Court, ordered that the initiative petition should be accepted and processed.

According to Bynum’s resulting certification, dated May 21, the coalition submitted 380 signatures, of which 97 were found to be “not sufficient,” meaning they were duplicates or from people who aren’t registered voters in the City of Mt. Shasta.

The remaining 288 signatures were enough to validate the petition, Bynum said, since the coalition needed 228 signatures, or 10% of the city’s 2,280 voters to be successful.

The coalition states that their initiative will not affect adults in accessing their medicinal or recreational marijuana, but would cap the current number of industrial cannabis licenses and prohibit any new such licenses being issued in Mount Shasta, except when an existing business is sold.

“Over time the initiative would reduce the presence of industrial cannabis businesses as licenses are surrendered or revoked,” according to a press release from the coalition.

The initiative also establishes a 600 foot buffer zone between cannabis businesses and schools, subjects license holders to annual unannounced inspections to ensure compliance with local and state requirements, and allows more input from city residents when industrial cannabis licenses are renewed. It also specifies that the council would need voter approval to amend the initiative in the future.

“The initiative drive by local citizens comes in response to consistent and prevailing attempts by the Mt. Shasta City Council and city staff to accommodate the desires of industrial cannabis businesses,” the coalition said in a press release.

Scovill said it’s the coalition’s hope that the council will simply adopt the initiative, calling it “reasonable, common sense and hugely popular.” However, he said if the council decides to instead place the initiative on the ballot, “we will campaign vigorously for its passage.”

Scovill pointed to a community survey the coalition completed that shows “overwhelming support” for the measure, with 31% of Mount Shasta voters participating, he said.

The Keep Cannabis Away from Kids coalition previously mounted a successful referendum effort in Mount Shasta that compelled the city council to maintain a buffer zone of 600 feet between schools and industrial cannabis businesses.