At Tuesday’s, Oct. 13 meeting, the Board of Supervisors gave the provisional go-ahead to expand cannabis cultivation in Mendocino County despite opposition from the Sheriff, environmentalists, and ranchers.
By a 4-to-1 vote, the Board conditionally OK’d numerous new provisions for a proposed Ordinance that will allow cultivation to occur on 10 percent of the total land on parcels zoned as Agriculture, Upland Residential, or Range Land. For example, a 600-acre parcel could have up to 60 acres of cultivated weed, or 100 acres of cannabis could be grown on a 1,000 acre parcel.
Third District Supervisor John Haschak was the lone dissenter, explaining he had “serious concerns about” the expansion because “that’s going to really devastate the small growers. The range land, you know, we heard from the Sheriff, environmental groups, ranchers that are against it. There’s not a work plan to move this (forward) so I’m going to vote no.”
Earlier in the meeting, Sheriff Matt Kendall told the Supes there’s an abundance of cannabis in the county already — he estimated at least one million plants in the Covelo area alone — and it was a mistake to open up new growing areas, especially on range land, when “we can’t control the areas” now under cultivation. However, Supes John McCowen, Ted Williams, Dan Gjerde, and Carre Brown favored the “bigger-is-better-for-the- county’s-economy” cannabis cultivation model.
Read more at willitsnews.com