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Our View: New pot industry prompts growing pains Wednesday Jun 28, 2017 at 12:01 AM The close-knit rural community of Williams is confronting the changes brought by Oregon's new recreational marijuana industry, and residents are less than happy about it. A proposed ballot measure that would declare a moratorium won't do much about the new pot farms already there, but it might spur action from state and county officials to guide future growth in the industry. In the long run, the commercial market should act to moderate the situation as oversupply drives marginal operators out of business. In the meantime, neighbors need to recognize that much of what they object to is little different from the side effects of other large-scale agricultural operations, which also can cause conflicts in rural communities. Williams long has been at the center of the region's marijuana growing culture, but those operations were small medical grows, tended by locals and sensitive to the concerns of neighbors. Now, large-scale commercial operations are blossoming, with hundreds of feet of fencing, huge greenhouses with concrete or gravel floors and increased traffic from tractor-trailers hauling in building materials. Lights at night and noisy fans disturb the rural quiet, and the speeding traffic prompts concerns about the safety of neighborhood children. Williams residents have drafted an initiative that asks voters in the Williams ZIP code whether they want to curtail future cannabis operations, limiting such things as light and noise from fans. Their hope is that Josephine County commissioners will respond by adopting the moratorium for the Williams area, and then work to draft regulations limiting any new operations to protect the rural nature of the area. Whether such a campaign will be successful remains to be seen. The community generally supports recreational marijuana and favors the law legalizing it. Many rural residents live there for the peace and quiet, and resent outsiders causing disruptions. But agriculture, even large-scale agriculture, is as much a part of rural life as the quiet atmosphere. Big greenhouses may be jarring, but so are large dairy barns, hog farms or cattle ranches. And all of those mean jobs and tax revenue for the local community. County commissioners should pay close attention to the concerns of the Williams community as well as other areas that may be affected by the growing marijuana industry. The industry is still in its early stages, and state officials should monitor the situation as well, and be prepared to implement changes in regulations if necessary to protect everyone's interests.