In the brisk early hours Tuesday morning, Scott Orr, Sonoma County’s planning and permitting director, posted outside the main administrative building yellow and orange signs showing the distance of proposed setback requirements for commercial cannabis farms.
Land-use policy discussions don’t often include such displays, but the signs were another signal of the sharp debate that was expected to prevail Tuesday as the Board of Supervisors was set to adopt revised and controversial regulations governing the commercial cannabis industry outside city limits.
The ordinance overhaul marks the first significant change to the county’s regulations of commercial cannabis cultivation, sales and distribution since 2018.
The board voted 4 to 1 to adopt the new rules, which will take effect July 1.
The vote capped a fractious and labored process launched by the county in 2021 to amend its rules governing commercial cannabis and settle years of criticism from the local legal industry seeking relief from what they called a burdensome permitting process. Residents, as well, have been outspoken, seeking stronger safeguards against noise, odor and strain on limited water supplies.
Supervisor David Rabbitt, the lone “no” vote, criticized the ordinance as failing to adequately protect neighborhoods, including those in agricultural areas, from the impacts of outdoor cannabis cultivation.
“I hope there’s enough money in the cannabis revenue fund to defend the upcoming lawsuit that’s inevitably going to happen,” Rabbitt said, referencing legal threats the county has already received regarding the rule changes.
Rabbitt also pushed back on his colleagues’ argument that the board can revisit the ordinance to address any future problems should they arise. That approach, he said, brings further complications and overloads county staff.
His comments were met with cheers and applause from a vocal audience, the majority made up of residents who opposed the revised rules. Several crowd members held up paper signs that read “Stop the Vote” on one side and “Face Recall” on the other.
The regulation changes include setback and acreage requirements, rules governing events at cannabis farms, a move to designate cannabis as controlled agriculture and the establishment of a new permitting pathway called “crop swaps.” The crop swap program would allow farmers to plant cannabis in place of previous crops so long as the operation uses the same amount of resources, including water, and does not require new infrastructure.
The regulations also brought new rules for cannabis distributors and retailers, but the main source of dispute has been the county’s regulation of outdoor cannabis farming.
There are 57 legal marijuana farms spanning a total 18 acres of cultivation in the county’s jurisdiction, according to inspection records. Additionally, there are seven retailers, five manufacturers and seven distributors in the county’s jurisdiction.
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Sonoma County Board of Supervisors passes new cannabis business regulations
