Decision delayed on cannabis cultivation operation west of Buellton

An image taken from a video presentation by Central Coast Agriculture shows the cannabis cultivation site on Santa Rosa Road west of Buellton the company is seeking approval for from the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission.

A map from the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department shows the site of Central Coast Agriculture’s cannabis operation west of Buellton in relation to an established developed rural neighborhood and the other nearest cannabis operation.

A scene from a Central Coast Agriculture video presentation to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission shows an employee inside one a nursery operation of the company that has a long-term focus on breeding strains of cannabis for specific qualities like odor, flavor, effects, oil quality and quantity, higher yields and lower water and fertilizer use.

A map from a Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department staff report shows the location of Central Coast Agriculture’s cannabis cultivation odor control system that some members of the County Planning Commission think is unnecessary.

A cannabis cultivation business already in operation west of Buellton appears headed for approval by the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, which continued a public hearing to Dec. 2 to provide time to tweak the proposed odor control plan.

Commissioners unanimously agreed to delay a decision on Central Coast Agriculture’s application for a major conditional use permit and a development plan to cultivate 30 acres of cannabis on a 68-acre parcel at 8701 Santa Rosa Road.

Mature plants would be grown for harvest and nursery operations would be conducted in hoop houses, outdoors, in a greenhouse and in an existing agricultural building, according to a staff report from the Planning and Development Department.

The proposed project includes 57 storage containers — of which 42 would be removed in three years — plus a new shade structure, security building, storage addition, fencing, lighting, landscaping and an odor abatement system.

It would employ 20 people full time, with another 20 employed seasonally.

The five people — four opposing and one supporting — who spoke during public comment represented just a fraction of the number who have consistently turned out, mostly in opposition, at other cannabis cultivation hearings and appeals.

Commissioner John Parke, whose 3rd District encompasses the project site, noted those in the cannabis industry say Central Coast Agriculture is “top notch, state of the art, the best in the industry.”

“I think we also have to recognize the opposition, or lack of it,” Parke said, pointing out no winery owners were speaking against the project and the city of Buellton has also not opposed it.

But Parke expressed concern over the applicant’s odor control system he felt would be expensive and unnecessary as well as the county requirement to have utilities moved underground along the 750-foot frontage of the property, which he saw as an expense with little benefit.

Although the commission has the authority to waive that requirement, the majority were hesitant to do so without surveying the entire length of the road and finding out how many other projects were required to move utilities underground.

First District Commissioner C. Michael Cooney also didn’t like the storage containers on site nor giving the applicant three years to get rid of most of them.

“We need to have those containers out,” he said.

But the main reason for continuing the hearing was so Parke could work with the applicant, staff and lawyer Marc Chytilo, who opposed the project, to come up with an odor control plan “different from what we have now,” even though the applicant wanted to install the proposed system.

A presentation by Central Coast Agriculture said two studies found no odor at the property line, and county staff said only one odor complaint had been received last week from someone in Buellton with no verification of the odor’s source.

Several commissioners, including 4th District Commissioner Larry Ferini, noted they recently visited the site as harvesting was underway.

“What was missing from your operation was the smell,” Ferini told Central Coast Agriculture principal John DeFriel. “Where’s the smell? How’d you hide that from us?”

DeFriel said his company has focused on developing cannabis strains that don’t have the skunky odor that has led to a flood of complaints against other operations but instead produce aromas of grapes, strawberries and vanilla.

He said the process of flash-freezing the cannabis in 30 minutes after it’s harvested also reduces odor.

Because the proposed odor control system could cost $200,000 or more, Parke favored an “adaptive management” plan that would ramp up odor control based on complaints, which Ferini supported but 5th District Commissioner Dan Blough did not.

The idea didn’t excite DeFriel, either.

“I would accept that, but I don’t want anyone to think we’re not going above and beyond” in odor control efforts, said DeFriel, who wanted to install the system as planned.

However, the decision was delayed so Parke could come up with another plan.