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Does Medford's outdoor pot ban include greenhouses? Mail Tribune file photo Tuesday Dec 6, 2016 at 4:59 PM Dec 7, 2016 at 7:08 AM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm Medford has banned outdoor marijuana grows, and the City Council will consider Thursday whether the ban applies to greenhouses as well. Under the ban, approved by Medford voters in November, cannabis can be grown indoors. "Someone contacted me and wants to know, does the greenhouse count as an indoor or outdoor grow?" Councilor Kevin Stine said. "In my mind, it counts as indoors." At 6 p.m. Thursday, the council will hold a study session to discuss marijuana grown in greenhouses and delve into what constitutes a legitimate structure within the city. Kevin McConnell, deputy city attorney, said the intent of the ordinance was not to go after grows in structures or accessory dwellings. He said the questions the council likely will consider include, "What is a greenhouse?" and "What makes it a structure?" Even if someone is growing in a greenhouse or inside a house, the city's offensive odor ordinance could still apply, McConnell said. If a neighbor complains about the odor, and the police determine it is offensive, the grower would need to do something about it, including potentially pulling out the plants or risk a fine. McConnell said that if officers became aware of an outdoor garden, they would first seek compliance from the offender. If the warning didn't work, the city has the ability to issue citations with a fine of up to $250 a day. McConnell said Medford's ban on outdoor grows already has taken effect. "It is now illegal," he said. However, most cannabis growers will not be putting anything in the ground until the spring. Councilor Michael Zarosinski said he hadn't given much thought to the question of greenhouses until recently. In general, he said, he would be inclined to consider a greenhouse to be a legitimate structure if it had a steel frame and panes of glass. However, he'd be less inclined to consider something with plastic tubing and thin plastic sheeting to be a legitimate structure. "There would have to be some sort of permanency to the structure that qualifies it as indoor," Zarosinski said. These are the kinds of questions the council will try to sort through Thursday, he said. Because the council is meeting in a study session, it will not take any action. He said the council could take action sometime next year, or it could wait to see whether police have any problems with residents building makeshift greenhouses to skirt the new ban. Councilor Tim Jackle said he hadn't thought about greenhouses when voters approved the ordinance banning outdoor grows. "I don't know what the definition of a greenhouse would be," he said. "I'd be interested to hear about it." Kelly Akin, interim city planning director, said the city doesn't have a definition of a greenhouse, though it does have some fairly broad definitions of a structure. Councilor Clay Bearnson, who has been an outspoken advocate of cannabis, said he didn't know how the council would approach the subject of marijuana in greenhouses in light of the outdoor ban. "It's a pretty unpredictable council," he said. Bearnson said he's not sure whether the outdoor grow ban would survive a legal battle, though he wasn't aware of anyone who has challenged the city so far. According to the Oregon Health Authority, about one-third of the 6,000 medical marijuana grow sites in Jackson County have a Medford ZIP code. — Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.