The first meeting of Nevada County’s marijuana community advisory group is set for Tuesday, May 23, at the Foothills Event Center in Grass Valley.

The 16-member panel, which was selected on Tuesday, May 9, by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors, will develop recommendations for the county’s cannabis grow ordinance.

The panel stems from the June 2016 failure of Measure W, which would have imposed an outdoor grow ban if passed. After the vote county officials met with cannabis advocates before approving a temporary grow ordinance currently in effect.

---

---

County officials want the permanent ordinance passed by next year’s grow season.

“On the agendas, we’re going to have certain subject matters covered, so we’ll have some type of structure.”Sean Powers, director of the county’s Community Development Agency

A formal agenda for the May 23 meeting is expected this week, and a full calendar of its gatherings is expected to be finalized at that first panel discussion, said Sean Powers, director of the county’s Community Development Agency. The May 23 meeting takes place from 2-5 p.m.

---

---

“On the agendas, we’re going to have certain subject matters covered, so we’ll have some type of structure,” Powers added.

The process of crafting recommendations for the county’s grow ordinance contains several moving parts. Powers said that MIG, Inc. — the county’s cannabis facilitator — wants a particular seating arrangement for the advisory panel, which eliminates the supervisors’ chamber in the Eric Rood Administrative Center as a site.

“They have a set plan on how they want to do that,” Powers said. “They’re professional facilitators. They know what they’re doing.”

MIG is considering space, acoustics and audio capabilities in the decision about where to meet. Powers said the meeting space must have a capacity for all advisory board members, county staff, MIG and between 60 and 70 public attendees.

The community advisory group is scheduled to meet eight times over the next several months. They’ll write recommendations for the grow ordinance and deliver them to supervisors, who are expected to approve an ordinance by the 2018 grow season.

The Foothills Event Center is located at 400 Idaho Maryland Road in Grass Valley.