Longmont's City Council will hold a Tuesday night public hearing on an ordinance that would regulate and limit the growing of marijuana inside homes for residents' medical or recreational use.

Also on Tuesday, the council is to decide whether to provide Longmont water and sewer service to a commercial indoor marijuana growing facility that's been proposed for a building on a property northeast of the St. Vrain River and 119th Street, which is outside the city's boundaries.

The council's consideration of the residential home-grow ordinance and the sewer and water tap agreements for the marijuana cultivation business come amid continuing uncertainty about how rigorously U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in states like Colorado, whose laws permit the medical or recreational use of marijuana and marijuana-infused products.

The ordinance up for public hearing and final council approval on Tuesday — a measure that would generally set a six-plants-per-adult limit for growing marijuana inside a Longmont residence, up to a maximum of 30 plants if there are five or more adults living in that dwelling unit — got preliminary council OK on Feb. 28.

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Longmont's new limits would differ from a bill pending in the Legislature that would write separate home-grow caps into state law. That House Bill 17-1220, whose primary sponsors include House Majority Leader KC Becker, D-Boulder, would limit home-grown marijuana to 16 plants per residential unit, although it would allow cities and counties to authorize more.

Becker's bill, which she has said would address a problem of criminal enterprises engaging in industrial-size growing operations and selling or distributing the marijuana illegally, was approved in a 55-10 Colorado House vote on March 13.

'Thwarting criminals'

"Illegal home grows create public safety and public health issues for homes and neighborhoods," Becker said in a statement after that House vote. "We must respect Coloradans who legally grow and use marijuana as medicine while thwarting criminals who are increasingly exploiting the system to grow marijuana for the black market."

Joining Becker in voting for her bill were Reps. Mike Foote, D-Lafayette, Edie Hooton, D-Boulder, Matt Gray, D-Broomfield, and Lori Saine, R-Firestone. Voting against it was Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont. The bill now awaits consideration in the State Senate.

Illegal home grows aside, Becker's bill lists other potential problems with large-scale home grows that also have been cited by people expressing support for a Longmont limit.

A large-scale grow in a residential property "can overburden the home's electrical system, resulting in excessive power use and creating a fire hazard that puts first responders at risk," House Bill 17-1220 states.

"A site can also cause water damage and mold in the residential property. A site in a residential property can produce a noxious smell that limits the ability of others who live in the area to enjoy the quiet of their homes. Often the site is a rental home, and the renters cause significant damage to the home by retrofitting the home to be used as a large-scale cultivation site.

"When residential property is used for a large-scale cultivation site, it often lowers the value of the property and thus the property value of the rest of the neighborhood," Becker's bill says.

Assistant Longmont City Manager Shawn Lewis said on Friday that "we have been tracking the legislation" and the City Attorney's Office has advised that the regulations being proposed in the Longmont ordinance would neither violate nor conflict with the proposed state law.

Caps could be raised

As it's now written, Longmont's home-grow ordinance would allow a state-registered medical marijuana patient to exceed the proposed six-plant-per resident limit if his or her physician has recommended that more plants are needed to produce the amount of pot or pot-infused products appropriate to treat the patient's condition.

State-registered primary medical marijuana caregivers also would be allowed to grow more than six plants inside a residence, with the total to be based on the total plant counts needed by a caregiver's currently assigned patients.

The Longmont ordinance would include odor-mitigation provisions. It would require home growers to comply with the city's other building, fire, plumbing, electrical and mechanical codes and to get the necessary permits prior to making modifications to their homes or accessory structures on the residential property.

While Longmont continues to prohibit the presence of marijuana-related medical or recreational businesses within the city, the City Council last month authorized the city staff to proceed to negotiate possible agreements with JSS LLC, the business that has applied for commercial water and sewer taps for the proposed 3,000-square-foot growing operation inside an existing building at 9800 N. 119th St. in unincorporated Boulder County.

On Tuesday night, the council will consider resolutions that would authorize Mayor Dennis Coombs to sign the water- and sewer-service agreements for the business, which also has to get state and county licenses before it can begin operating its growing facility.