Opinion: Mountain Collective looking for support from community
To the community,
The medical cannabis industry is already operating here in our community of South Lake Tahoe. However, we as a community are not benefiting from it as much as we could be. People in the community may not realize, but Mountain Collective, run by longtime locals, was unjustly denied permission to open a collective in the fall of 2009 when they originally applied with the city of South Lake Tahoe.
The city was biased by making exceptions on the applications for some of the current collectives, but not for Mountain Collective. The other three collectives are all spin-offs of other bigger collectives out of San Jose, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Since 2009, Mountain Collective has been impeded by ongoing negotiations with the city, while the other three collectives have been allowed to operate. After decisions being prolonged and no conclusion being drawn, Mountain Collective is left with no option but to sue the city, in order to defend their rights and heavy investment in opening this collective. This lawsuit [that is expected to be filed today in El Dorado County Superior Court] could definitely go either way, therefore each and every one of our emails, letters, and if we show up to City Council meetings on important days will help to make or to break this case. Blogging online on press articles about what is going on and showing your support of Mountain Collective is also very beneficial. This grassroots approach may be the last chance Mountain Collective has and depends on each and everyone of you reading this and your demonstration of support.
We, as a community, need to write quick emails or letters saying it is about time Mountain Collective be recognized as a collective within the city of South Lake Tahoe. People in the community need to be informed about what has gone on so please spread the word. Mountain Collective needs any and all support, so please step forward. You can email our City Council at hcole@cityofslt.us, cfortier@cityofslt.us, aswanson@cityofslt.us, tdavis@cityofslt.us, and bgrego@cityofslt.us.
The city has a meeting coming up on April 19. Information about agendas is usually posted the Friday before the meeting on their website. City Council members make different decisions in front of a room full of people than they do when no one is in attendance. It is imperative to physically attend meetings. Meetings are at 1901 Airport Road, South Lake Tahoe.
Mountain Collective needs to have friends, family and members of the community standing behind them because they have been treated unfairly by the city of South Lake Tahoe and deserve to be able to open after all of this time of loss profits.
It is time to rectify this situation, which has been drawn out way to long, by helping Mountain Collective get the proper permits and permission to operate as a collective within South Lake Tahoe alongside the City of Angels 2, Tahoe Wellness Center, and Patient to Patient 2. The Zieglers have fully committed themselves to this business and have demonstrated over the course of the last 20 years their commitment to the local community and economy. Their livelihood, as well as their two young daughters. among others depend on Mountain Collective being officially acknowledged. Denying them the right to operate will be highly detrimental to their family and current employees.
As longtime locals, Chris and Stacie are committed to supporting and revitalizing the economy here. Mountain Collective is run on a closed loop system, which means all medical cannabis is produced in secure, discrete principally industrial areas locally and distributed locally to patients. It will be very clear where all the cannabis is coming from and where it is going. It will all be grown in Clean Green Certified locations which means it will meet Chris Van Hook’s statewide Clean Green Certification standards in spaces that meet all local building and safety codes and have appropriate insurance. Clean Green Certification insures products are produced in manner that is both healthy and safe for the environment.
With the proper permission and permits Mountain Collective will be able to create many local jobs. Unemployment levels are reaching all time highs. By employing local people, supporting local businesses with their purchasing needs the economy here will be positively impacted. There is also an opportunity for the city to benefit from taxes. It is scary but true the economy here needs major improvements and to diversify. We really need to open ourselves to new ideas and concepts and support locally owned and operated businesses.
We as a community need to stand up for each other by supporting each others’ visions. Let’s step in and help Mountain Collective make their vision a reality.
Together healing naturally,
Layla Green, South Lake Tahoe
Three is the limit, and that is three too many.
What a waste of tax payers dollars.
Hope the city wins.
Surely you can’t be serious ;).
Please Shirley tell us why the arbitrary number of 3 should be the limit and why, in your opinion, that is too many. Is it because you disagree with what they do? Is it because it just gets under your skin that Californians, legally and legislatively, decided to allow medical cannabis over 15 years ago? Is it because seeing people treat ailments without the products of big pharma just ruffles your feathers? Or is it just because you can’t move past the propaganda of the war on the drugs that you’ve spoon fed since the time of Harry Anslinger?
Whether you like it or not, Mountain Collective has just as much right to open and operate as do the other 3, and if they fail so be it. But denying them the chance to even try because there are 3 other similar venues already operating is terrible logic. We as a city didn’t tell Jack-in-the-box, “you know what, there’s already 7 places in town to get burgers, fries, tacos, etc….so you can’t open,” instead we let them open and see if they could sink or swim, the same should be applied to this debate.
Hay Dude how about we close them all!!!!
Well said Dude.
Hey Full Time, how about you learning to spell hey ;)
Hey Dude that better for you, still want all the pot heads gone, by not spelling good can I get a card too.
What a foolish and wasteful debate. Three points:
1. Local businesses run by locals and keeping the revenue on the hill should win out over anyone coming in off the hill.
2. Let the market decide how many is too many; enforcement of H&S regulations, etc is where our tax dollars should be spent; not re-fighting an old battle.
3. Until you have suffered a condition and had to face the decision to get a license or not to get thru a day; you don’t get to decide.
The city did not limit hardware stores.
Comments ought to be limited to factual, civilized debate and opinion. Judgement and criticism lowers the bar for everyone.
Thank you k9woods.
“they all have proper insurance” Having spent over 30 years as insurance broker, I sure would like to read their PRODUCT LIABILITY POLICY
Full-Time you need a GED, not a medicinal card.
Full Time, proper spelling and grammar aside, why do you want all the “pot heads” gone. You do realize there are plenty of other states in the union where cannabis is still quite illegal and people get sentenced to longer jail terms for posession of cannabis than they do for violent crimes. I suggest if you dislike all the “pot heads” in California you move to another state, might I suggest Tennessee or Georgia. Or better yet, start your own campaign to overturn the medical marijuana law.
My question is did they vote for or against prop 19 ?
Marijuana could have been legal but it seems like most individuals that grow weed under 215 did not vote in favor of prop 19.
We could have had it legal and it seems our local clubs did not want this. However, they have as much right as the existing 3 dispensaries to operate.
My opinion is…. if individuals grow, sell or even smoke under the disguise of prop 215 and did not not vote to legalize on prop 19,,,, you are a drug dealer. it seems marijuana collectives state wide were against prop 19. Ya bastards….
Note….. i use my real name for my opinions
Shady of Angels should be run out of town, and replaced by this one.
‘My opinion is…. if individuals grow, sell or even smoke under the disguise of prop 215 and did not not vote to legalize on prop 19,,,, you are a drug dealer.’
My goodness that is faulty logic. The recent billed was majorly flawed, it did not guarantee protection for medical patients, allowed for massive scale operations while limiting regular people, and did not offer any amnesty to those wrongfully in jail.
That is why people did not vote for it. But mostly because it was another power grab bill, written to enable a small number of people who make millions and prevent competition.
Flawed as it was, it is better than we have now. I see you went for the propaganda also.
Simple question: do you think it should be legal. yes or no?
I do not see any gray area. If you grow to sell and do not believe it should be legal for the general public ( prices affected, oh no!), you are simply a drug dealer afraid of competition. It will be a long time before we will get it on a ballot again. Thanks for nothing to anybody who smokes and did not vote it legal.
I say more dispensaries is fine, maybe there is a group of people who might truly be compassionate to the benefits of pot.
So a person can change status of being a drug dealer or not, by believing in something. Neat.
None of what I said was propaganda.
Well said k9woods! I totally agree. For some of us with truly debilitating conditions and pain it is a necessity to have accessible options. This shouldn’t be a debate on whether or not we allow medical cannabis because we already do. It should be a debate on how it is done in this town and by who.
The city obviously made a mistake by originally not allowing the local guy for insufficient reasons. They could save tax payers money by not battling the law suit and allowing Mountain Collective who had their application submitted before the moratorium.
I feel it is important to comment on this story before it disappears from the radar.
Disclosure: I worked for the Zieglers during the summer and fall of 2010 as a consultant and site manager of the motel property they purchased near the South Tahoe Y. I‘ve been in constant contact with them since July 2010 and in that time I’ve witnessed their commitment to each other, their two young girls and to the community. Both Chris and Stacie are long time Tahoe residents who have worked at various jobs over the years. Chris Ziegler eventually found himself working in the construction trade and like many trades people, found himself with a valuable skill but little work. With a family background in agriculture, he combined his skills and knowledge to start Mountain Collective to set a high standard in the emerging field of medical cannabis production and provide for his young family. Regardless of ones’ opinions about the use of medical cannabis, this is a legal and socially sanctioned business. I would like to join other posters in thanking k9woods for accurately and succinctly framing this debate.
Aside from producing medicinal grade, ‘Clean Green’ certified cannabis, the Zieglers vision for the future includes a project that once completed would serve as a model of how to reinvent our infrastructure and our economy. They bought the run down motel property with the intention of re-building it as a model of environmentally progressive, energy efficient remodeling techniques and materials. The scope of the project includes active and passive solar design, solar powered charging stations for electric vehicles, a snow melt and rain water capture system, a high tech greenhouse and community garden for FOOD production, coffee shop and commercial kitchen and an attractive water feature centered around a waterwheel that will produce electricity as a bonus to its’ use as an attractive and traffic noise mitigating ‘functional sculpture’. All of this would take place in a highly visible, gateway location.
This is exactly the kind of progressive entrepreneurship and reinvestment in our community that we should be supporting and encouraging. I have seen first hand the unnecessary and unfair delays that the Zieglers have endured, mostly at the hands of the previous city administration despite their willingness to cooperate and even offering (at their expense) the expertise of their compliance attorney who is responsible for crafting MC guidelines for Humbolt. It has caused them much stress and caused Chris to lose valuable time with his wife and children. It’s sad that it took a lawsuit to finally have their legitimate grievances heard. It is my sincere hope that cooler and wiser heads will prevail and that the Zieglers will be granted the opportunity to pursue their vision.
While I don’t have enough information to have an opinion regarding the proposed business, I do value local business people who have a sincere intent to better our community. I appreciate that the Zieglers have a vision — and are raising a family in our community — and wish for them the opportunity to be fairly heard as they present their case.
The city has had all kinds of problems with the three so called collectives. Why don’t we let the locals run a collective. I think that they might have a better way or at least do good for our community. I don’t think that those collectives really care about our community. I haven’t seen anything positive from them and definitely haven’t heard anything positive!!!! COME ON CITY DON”T WASTE OUR MONEY !!!!!!
Just open!
We need new businesses in Tahoe! Look around we have all watched our town and its local business sink over the last few years. Small businesses and corporations alike, most meet the same fate……closure and or bankruptcy. Some will say that it is the price of doing business, but I know firsthand Tahoe has more hurdles than most business owners of the hill. Both due to the availability of resources and customers, business owners pay more just to operate in town. Anyone who has the ambition to open and operate a fully LOCAL business with the current economy has PASSION. Period. Owning and operating a business in Lake Tahoe can become an uphill financial battle just to keep your doors open. Mountain Collective has not been allowed to even open their doors, yet many businesses in this town send their profits off the hill. Tahoe needs capital from business licenses and taxes generated by business owners. Not to mention employment! Who needs a job?????? Hiring many positions soon…….Are you listening City Council?
We live in a Tourist based town. Our city management needs to focus on bringing tourist back to Tahoe and spending their money here locally.
Let them open!
The city should welcome the business and quit making moves that create needless lawsuits.
To say NO to anyone attempting to open a lawful business that will generate income for the city just doesn’t make a lot of sense in today’s economy. I don’t really see any difference between having a 4th dispensary and having 4 hardware stores so close together, except the dispensaries are spread out more. The city lost that battle, so to get in the same fight just a couple of years later over almost the same thing is just a waste of our tax dollars.
Businesses come and go in this town. Some make it and some don’t. Isn’t that free enterprise? Let’s keep the money in Tahoe.