Sonoma County Supervisors Vote to Explore Changes to Cannabis Program
December 20, 2019
By Lauren Mendelsohn
Earlier this week, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted to approve recommendations from the Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee regarding exploring changes to the county’s cannabis program. The committee’s presentation for the item can be viewed here.
The motivation behind this was the fact that participation in Sonoma County’s commercial cannabis program has been lower than expected due to extensive permitting costs and timelines. Issues have also been raised regarding the county’s cannabis tax structure and code enforcement tactics. Moreover, the county will likely lift its moratorium on hemp cultivation soon, and considering that hemp looks and smells just like cannabis, it doesn’t make sense to have such drastically different sets of rules governing the two.
The most significant change recommended by the Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee was to move oversight of cultivation projects from the Permit and Resource Management Department (“PRMD” or “Permit Sonoma”) to the Department of Agriculture / Weights and Measures (“AWM” or the “Ag Department”). Any building permits associated with the cultivation site would still be obtained from PRMD. Another significant change that was proposed would be to give the Board of Supervisors original jurisdiction over a handful of applications that have been deemed “controversial” and thus were likely to be appealed to the Supervisors anyway in order to reduce the associated review timelines. Changes to how code enforcement matters were handled were also suggested, in addition to creating a special “Cannabis Team” consisting of representatives from various county departments in order to create a sort of one-stop-shop to better help applicants through the permitting process.
Although no changes were officially made at Tuesday’s meeting, in response to the Supervisors’ vote, county staff will begin working on the following items and will return to the Board early next year to decide upon courses of action:
- Completing an assessment of each penalty relief project application and establishing a path to resolution.
- Scheduling projects identified for original jurisdiction for hearing at future Board of Supervisors meetings.
- Investigating how to amend the Cannabis Land Use Ordinance so that cannabis cultivation may be allowed with a ministerial permit issued by the Department of Agriculture / Weights & Measures (AWM), while associated building permits would continue to be issued by Permit Sonoma; and including amendments that would streamline the permitting process.
- Transitioning code enforcement of the regulated cannabis market from Permit Sonoma to AWM.
- Shifting priorities from a countywide environmental impact review toward changes that do not require that level of environmental review.
- Developing a business plan and timeline for program improvements and transition of responsibilities between county departments.
Stay tuned to our blog for more information about Sonoma County’s cannabis program.
This information is provided as an educational service and is not intended as legal advice. For more information about obtaining a cannabis permit in Sonoma County or elsewhere in California, contact the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa at (707) 829-0215 or info@omarfigueroa.com to schedule a confidential legal consultation.