Don’t worry everyone, the Santa Barbara County Coalition for Responsible Cannabis has got our backs! They’re taking care of business that the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has failed to adequately address time and again, according to Coalition President Blair Pence.
I mean, if the Board of Supervisors would just do exactly what the coalition wants, it wouldn’t have to keep appealing and suing the county about all of these approvals to legally grow marijuana in the Santa Ynez Valley, amirite?
But the board just doesn’t because—news flash—the board doesn’t work directly for the coalition’s members and has to consider other county constituents as well as the legal parameters surrounding its decision. Details, you know?
So the coalition decided it needed to work “directly with growers” to find compromises that would work for both parties. Gasp! So novel!
“It was time for the coalition to step up and create solutions, and we did,” Pence said.
Odor is the most pressing issue of our time! I’m so grateful to the coalition for taking care of this non-issue, and negotiating with yet another grower it was going to harass until the court system tangoed with its county-approved permit.
Central Coast Agriculture and the coalition came to an agreement to test odor and terpene emissions at the farm’s property line and in areas thought to be most odor-impacted and use the best available control technology if odor and terpenes are a problem. Terpenes are organic properties associated with taste and smell released from all plants, but wineries are worried that pot terpenes will ruin alcohol ones—even though studies out there in the world report that cross-contamination between the two mind-altering substances isn’t a thing.
Hey, do you think we could get wineries to stop smelling up the atmosphere during every post-harvest crush? That fermented fruity-sour smell is ruining my high! Maybe I can start a Coalition for Responsible Grapes to step up and create solutions.
Because of the odor agreement, the coalition agreed not to appeal the project’s approval. Complaints about water use and land use are simply not as important as smell! It’s not like we’ve been in a drought for 20 years or anything. I bet, really, all of that cannabis litigation is just getting a bit pricey, you know?
I say kudos to Central Coast Agriculture, because it’s smart, smart, smart for agreeing to this odor thingy. Attorney Matthew Allen said the cannabis company doesn’t think odor is going to be a problem, anyway, but now they can move forward with their project without worrying about costly litigation. Smart, smart, smart.
All sarcastic comments aside, it’s nice to see two at-odds sides actually discuss their issues with one another and come to an agreement rather than yelling about each other at a Board of Supervisors meeting. It’s what adults did in the real world that existed before the politically polarized one we’re currently living in.
It’s just a shame that the conversation took two years to come to solution. Maybe the next tough conversation between residents who disagree will come about a little quicker. Maybe it’s one of those things that gets easier with time. You just have to take the first step.
The Canary is pondering a flight across the aisle. Send comments to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 13-20, 2021.
