Santa Barbara County Planning Commission to recommend more rigorous permit for all cannabis cultivation

The Santa Maria Times reports…

fter wrestling with reports and public opinion through hours of hearings, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission drafted a resolution addressing some of the issues surrounding the cannabis industry that will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors to consider enacting as ordinance amendments.

The commission continued other issues indefinitely after running out of time at the end of the nearly all-day hearing Wednesday.

“If this is the best we can do in the time we have and we’re going to blow it up if we keep futzing with it, I will support it,” said 3rd District Commissioner John Parke. He previously expressed concern that recommending cannabis odors be controlled at the property line might make it hard to get the permit portion of the recommendation enacted by the board.

In a unanimous vote, the commission agreed to recommend supervisors require a conditional use permit for all cultivation and onsite processing operations in both AG-1 and AG-2 zones, not only inland but also in the Coastal Zone.

If approved by the board, that would mean cannabis cultivation and onsite processing projects could not be approved by the less rigorous land use permit procedure.

While supervisors can enact the ordinance in the inland area, the California Coastal Commission will have to approve the ordinance before it can take effect in the Coastal Zone and, as it has in the past, may require changes to its provisions.

The resolution also asks the board to amend the ordinances so that the odor control plan required as a condition of approval will “ensure the project will not be detrimental to the comfort, convenience, general welfare, health and safety of the neighborhood.”

If enacted as an amendment, that could mean outdoor cultivation might not be allowed in some areas or would have to take place in a sealed greenhouse with odor control, depending upon the proposed location of the project, environmental conditions and the nature of the neighborhood.

Commissioners considered recommending that cannabis odor be controlled at the property line.

“If you can smell as grow anywhere outside the [project] boundary, that’s a violation,” said Commissioner Michael Cooney, who represents the 1st District that includes Carpinteria, an area that has generated a flood of complaints over odor.

Planning Director Lisa Plowman pointed out making that a requirement would represent a significant change to the entire program.

More at

https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/santa-barbara-county-planning-commission-to-recommend-more-rigorous-permit/article_93a77c65-d3fd-5e4a-8122-c92a5f2892fd.html

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