The Board of County Commissioners has appointed 13 residents to the Marijuana Advisory Committee (MAC). The group will provide recommendations to the Commissioners on medical and recreational marijuana land use regulations in unincorporated Deschutes County.
“We appreciate the public’s interest in helping us address this important issue,” said Deschutes County Chair Alan Unger. “We were very pleased with the number of strong applications we received. We had to make some difficult decisions, but the result is a balanced committee of rural residents from different regions of our county and marijuana business owners.”
Appointees, which represent both rural areas and the marijuana industry include:
Planning Commission Chair
1. Steve Swisher (Sisters-Area)
At-Large
2. Attorney Alison Hohengarten (Bend Area – East)
Marijuana Industry / Producers
3. Andrew or Jocelyn Anderson (Alfalfa)
4. Hunter Neubauer (City of Bend, Oregrown Industries)
5. Realtor Josh Rodriguez (Tumalo Area)
6. Lindsey Pate (Terrebonne Area)
7. Matt Cyrus (Sisters Area)
Rural Residents
8. Liz Lotochinski (Tumalo Area)
9. Lance Dyer (Tumalo Area)
10. Tim Elliot (Bend Area – East)
11. Sam Davis (Tumalo Area)
12. Larry Fulkerson (Bend-Area – East)
13. Glen Kotara (South County)
Non-voting representatives will be invited to participate and will serve as resources to the committee throughout the process.
MAC appointees are charged with recommending reasonable regulations to address the impacts of both medical and recreational marijuana land uses (such as sight, sound and smell). Their recommendations will be considered by the Board of County Commissioners and may be adopted if the Board or voters rescind the County’s temporary opt-out ordinance.
The committee will meet weekly beginning at 5pm on Wednesday, February 10 through March 9 at the Deschutes Services Building, 1300 NW Wall Street, Bend. All meetings are open to the public.
MAC Schedule (All Meetings Subject to Oregon Public Meetings Law & Open to the Public)
All meetings will be held at the Deschutes Services Building, 4-7pm unless otherwise noted.
Wednesday, February 10: 4:30-5pm. Meet and Greet, 5-8pm. Regular Meeting
Wednesday, February 17
Monday, February 22
Wednesday, March 2
Wednesday, March 9
OTHER
Monday, March 21: BOCC Check-In at Regular Business Meeting, 10:00 a.m.
For more information about the MAC’s schedule, please visit www.deschutes.org/marijuana. For additional information about the MAC, please contact Nick Lelack, Community Development Director at 541-385-1708.
