Our First Year of Nothing
Whew, it’s been a long year with nothing to show for it and it’s already time to apply for our license renewal! So what is taking so long for us to actually produce and offer cannabis flower? If you follow our Facebook page you may already be familiar with the struggle.
We needed to do some excavation work to put up a greenhouse in order to hide our plants from public view. It’s not only a requirement of the Cannabis Control Board to hide plants from view, but also a security measure. As easy as cannabis can be to grow, people are still stealing plants from farmers. Plus a greenhouse would give us a little more environmental control so it seemed like a good idea.
One of our neighbors decided to give us a hard time. A very hard time. Not directly, no, no. They would not come to us with their concerns and complaints. Instead they harassed our excavation crew until they quit. Then they went to the town saying that we were blocking their right-of-way access and we were on their property. None of which was true, however the burden of proof for some reason fell on us. I had to locate surveys, dig out our deed, find boundary markers, contact my lawyer, get the sheriff’s department involved, and write a lot of e-mails showing that we were well within our rights.
So, when that didn’t work our neighbor from hell went to the town and said that we were interfering with wetlands. To clarify, our property has a severe drainage issue caused by two problems, 1) a rusted out town culvert that empties out onto our property into a shallow ditch and 2) we had to extend our driveway to have a new well drilled because our property is on a slope. All the sediment and clay dug out for the well was left behind and the extended driveway probably didn’t help with runoff. So, the town sent me a pamphlet about wetlands and who to contact if in doubt. I did not want to risk being fined more than my property is worth in case I was in the wrong, so I contacted the state wetlands ecologist to be on the safe side. Keep in mind this is about a 2,000 square foot area, our greenhouse is only 740 square feet, and not considered a permanent structure. But, the site being as small as it is, doesn’t matter when it comes to wetlands conservation, no matter what it is going to be used for.
Some time went by and the State Wetlands Ecologist came out to do a site visit. I explained what the property looked like when we first bought it vs. what it looked like after all the work was done and pointed out the rusted culvert. (I even have pictures.) But, to our surprise, she said it was “wetlands” and we had to obtain a permit to continue work. She recommended that we hire an engineer to complete a “wetlands delineation” and the lengthy, technical, permit application. Then added the delineation could not be completed until the following spring.
Fast forward through the long winter of waiting, our hired wetlands engineer came out for a site visit and determined the area was NOT wetlands. I’m not sure I’ve felt such extreme opposite emotions at the same time before? Overwhelming relief that it was not wetlands, but also overwhelming frustration that so much time and money had been wasted. The next step was for the state ecologist to come back out and meet with our engineer for a third site visit so that they could come to a mutual determination.
Nearly a month went by and I started to panic. No word on when the next site visit would be. I still had to secure a new excavation crew and give them enough time to schedule my work before the end of the year! Before winter, actually! Plus figure out how to pay for it all. I cannot go another year, another grow season, without income from this business venture. I’ve invested so much and I need a return. The state ecologist was not responding to my engineer. I started reaching out to anyone I thought might help including my state representative, the CCB, the attorney general’s office, and the governor’s office.
Then finally it was scheduled! They met and after an hour and a half of deliberation and soil analysis… I still didn’t have a final answer, but they were leaning toward agreeing it was not. I just cried with relief, but again, also with frustration because I didn’t know for sure what the outcome would be. But, the next day, as promised, the state ecologist e-mailed her determination that she would yield in favor of the engineer’s decision that the area is NOT wetlands with the caveat that her determination only stands until the end of the year. Any work beyond that would require another site visit.
Now the mad dash begins to find an excavation crew that will help us within the next three months before winter arrives. I’ve contacted 10 so far and counting. Will we be able to grow a full cannabis crop next year? We can’t afford not to, but I guess only time will tell.
