The city of Lompoc is the cannabis capital of Santa Barbara County, and considering the number of licenses issued for retail, manufacturing, and growing, it’s probably the largest in the state. Why? Because the number of licenses based on the population of the area is denser than any other jurisdiction issuing permits in the state.
On Sept. 20 the City Council considered an industry request to temporarily suspend issuing any new permits and considered whether the council wanted to review the current cannabis regulations.
In the interest of full disclosure, I didn’t support the idea of allowing cannabis sales, growing, or manufacturing in our city. But a majority of voters statewide did; many, including the council majority, had been misled by the potential economic and tax revenue benefits, so they jumped headfirst into the cannabis pot.
Like many other jurisdictions, visions of new revenue raining down on Lompoc danced through the heads of council members; however, like all those other jurisdictions, the cash flow isn’t what was anticipated. Instead of millions, it’s more like a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. One reason could be the unchecked street sales, and the other is that there just aren’t that many customers; many legitimate businesses have found it necessary to cut prices dramatically to compete.
The City Council created a set of permitting requirements and designated the zones in which cannabis operations were allowed. One of the key requirements for manufacturer/processors and/or growers was that the odors associated with these processes be contained on-site—more about that later.
The staff report indicated that “as of Aug. 3, 2022: 66 applications have been received, 46 commercial cannabis use licenses have been issued, 28 business tax certificates (BTCs) have been issued, and four licenses/BTCs closed.”
You must admit that more than 60 cannabis operations planned in an area with about 50,000 residents, including children and adults who have no interest in using this product, is a bit excessive, but that doesn’t bother our elected leaders.
In rejecting a moratorium on new licenses, the council seemed focused on the “free enterprise” aspect of the debate. I observed that it was a group of retailers that had proposed the limits, not unhappy members of the public. So it seems like they were only interested in protecting their market share.
I also support the idea of free enterprise. Of the business applications approved, four have already closed—so that concept seems to apply to this type of business just like any other in town.
The idea of a referendum failed, so Mayor Jenelle Osborne made a motion to appoint an ad hoc committee to review current regulations and return to the council with any recommended changes. This motion passed on a 3-2 vote; Councilman Dirk Starbuck and Councilwoman Gilda Cordova voted “no,” and Councilmen Jeremy Ball and Victor Vega volunteered to accomplish this task.
There may be some issues with the current regulations; some are procedural, and some involve enforcement of existing standards. As for enforcement, the voters passed a 1 percent cannabis sales tax measure to help fund the enforcement activity.
When cannabis regulations at the state level were adopted, periodic audits and a robust oversight element were required. The city was obligated to meet these standards when they chose to become the permitting authority in the city. But some elements of the regulations adopted by the city seem to have been overlooked either in the permitting process or enforcement.
For example, there are two requirements that are currently being ignored by both the industry and the city. The 2030 general plan specifies that “the city shall protect residential neighborhoods from encroachment by adverse or incompatible nonresidential uses (for example, new intensive agriculture or industry) and impacts associated with nonresidential uses, including impacts to neighborhood character and public health.”
And the Lompoc municipal code chapter, “Regulation of Personal cannabis Cultivation and Commercial cannabis Activity,” specifically says that the industry shall “control odors in such a way as not to materially disrupt the ability of any reasonable person to enjoy the reasonable use of that person’s residence or areas open to the public.”
These two standards are not currently being met, and apparently were not included when manufacturing/processing permits were approved—or if they were included, they were overlooked when these businesses received their final certificate of occupancy. Repeated complaints to the city regarding the obnoxious odors coming from manufacturing/processing operations have gone unanswered.
Councilman Ball observed that “some retailers might be cutting corners to help the bottom line”; this is troubling and further justifies the need for an active audit program to weed out those who aren’t following the rules.
In addition, the county of Santa Barbara has issued permits for growing operations east of the city. County Planning and Development likens the odor produced by these operations as being akin to the short-term odor of broccoli fields when the harvest is complete. This is, of course, an absurd comparison since the broccoli odor only lasts two or three days, while the cannabis odor has been in the air for the last several months.
I am hopeful that the city of Lompoc will accept its responsibility and duty to “protect residential neighborhoods from encroachment by adverse or incompatible nonresidential uses” and hold the cannabis industry accountable to contain the skunk-like odors produced during the growing and processing of their product within the building or origin.
I have little hope that county planners or the elected majority on the Board of Supervisors have any concern for the impact caused by their casual approach to regulating odors from cannabis grows or their impact on people.
Anyone considering a move to Lompoc should be aware that parts of Lompoc stink of skunk for long periods of time each week because of the inability of city and county government to protect the right of people to enjoy the reasonable use of their residence and/or areas open to the public—including schools, parks, and other retail businesses—because of the impacts of this industry.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 6-13, 2022.