Aside from a few knowing glances, snarky scoffs, and rolling eyes, the tone of Santa Barbara County’s July 27 environmental scoping meeting remained passive-aggressive, if not submissive, despite many attendees’ vehement concerns over the meeting’s topic: cannabis cultivation.
Noise, traffic, odor, water—roughly 10 community members shared their most pressing cannabis-related fears at the meeting in Santa Maria’s Betteravia Government Center. An audience of about 30 listened, and a few cannabis growers showed in an attempt to alleviate general apprehensions.
“I want to point out that cannabis is a crop and it’s a profitable crop,” Santa Barbara County resident Walter Taylor said. “There are all kinds of ways for cannabis growers to show they are better than previously believed to be.”
The meeting was an opportunity for public discourse, a time for locals to ask questions and share any issues they felt the county should address in its Cannabis Land Use Ordinance and Licensing Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which is required by the California Environmental Quality Act.
The EIR will evaluate the potential environmental effects of the proposed cannabis regulations associated with the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, which was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in June. The act combines California’s past medical and recreational cannabis laws into one regulatory system. It outlines the state-local licensure process, clarifies law enforcement requirements, and establishes taxation plans.
Still, local jurisdictions like Santa Barbara County can choose to regulate or ban all outdoor cultivation, and they can enforce reasonable regulations on personal cultivation.
In accordance with these provided rights, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors directed its staff to develop comprehensive cannabis regulations for activities associated with the legalization act, allowing staff members to initiate the environmental review process.
Though final zoning and licensing decisions have not been made, the county submitted a notice of preparation and scoping of an Environmental Impact Report on July 12. County staff created a broad, preliminary draft in an effort to spark public input.
Spark input, it did.
The Tepusquet Community Crisis Committee arrived at the scoping meeting in full force, each member wearing a purple visor, seated in the front row. Despite a three-minute-per-person time limit, the Tepusquet Committee was able to fully flesh out its mission statement after nearly every member stood to speak on the issue of cannabis crops in the Tepusquet Canyon.
The group’s members repeated a similar sentiment in different words: They have felt ignored and misrepresented throughout the county’s planning process, and they’re worried about how cannabis crops will affect the environment surrounding their homes.
Despite rebuttals from cannabis farmers at the meeting, the Crisis Committee said cannabis crops require high water use, and the lack of a water basin in Tepusquet means growers would need to use water wells, many of which have run dry in the canyon.
Members said a large number of cannabis crops could lead to a higher volume of traffic on the winding two-lane road that leads through Tepusquet. This, they said, could be dangerously problematic during future fire evacuations.
Members said that because of these environmental factors the Crisis Committee would like a strict limit set on the number of cannabis cultivators allowed in the Tepusquet area.
Hunter Jameson had a different set of concerns.
Jameson, a county resident, said at the meeting that he doesn’t like the idea of having storefronts where cannabis retailers could legally sell marijuana for medical and recreational use. He said he would like the county to ban those and “pot clubs,” where people could legally use marijuana in public, similar to the way people of legal age drink alcohol in bars.
Pot clubs, Jameson said, would be a true menace to the safety of the highway, because people would have to drive home after “stumbling out stoned.”
Aside from those issues, Jameson said he fears promoting the recreational cultivation and use of marijuana would not thwart the black market, but would serve only to increase illegal marijuana use among minors, like his 13-year-old son. His comments were met with agreeing nods from many audience members.
“Overall, I think legalizing cannabis was a very bad idea,” Jameson told the Sun. “I’m very sorry the voters approved that.”
Other commenters seemed less prepared to take a stance. One man with a small vineyard said he’s seen one well after another dry up in rural Santa Barbara County, but that agricultural cultivation is a major economic force in the area. Another man said he would like to see community members become more open minded and less judgmental of cannabis farmers who try to get permits in an effort to cultivate legally, rather than hiding their activities from the law.
One cannabis farmer, who identified himself as John at the meeting but later told the Sun the name was an alias, drew parallels between the current cannabis situation and Santa Barbara County’s past with vineyards. The county has an interesting opportunity, he said, to brand its cannabis products locally, the way wine is branded. In turn, this would bring attention and profit to the area.
Bruce Watkins, managing director of Green Flash Advisors, recently bought several acres of land in the Tepusquet Canyon area that he and his partners plan to use for cannabis cultivation.
Watkins said the county has the perfect microclimate for natural cannabis cultivation, meaning growers wouldn’t have to waste energy using equipment like ultraviolet lights. On top of that, it’s the closest area to Southern California where land is still relatively inexpensive, he said. Its close proximity to Santa Maria is also a bonus, Watkins explained, because agricultural equipment is readily available.
When Watkins first visited the Tepusquet area last summer, he said he filed a permit to dig a well. That well, he said, was thousands of feet deep and pumping 100 gallons of water a minute, even after a drought. After doing a geological survey, Watkins found evidence of other deep well formations in the area.
“We’ll have water to cultivate,” Watkins told the Sun. “The challenge has been a lack of information. There is data to lay every concern I’ve heard to rest. That’s why you see me standing here, passing out my business card.”
Staff Writer Kasey Bubansh can be reached at kbubnash@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 3-10, 2017.