While the maximum acreage allowed for cannabis cultivation across unincorporated Santa Barbara County will decrease by the end of September, the new limit won't impact current growers—which are essentially grandfathered in under a recent Board of Supervisors directive.
At its Aug. 26 meeting, the board voted 5-0 to reduce the acreage cap from 1,575 to 1,417 on its second reading, which will put the rule into effect on Sept. 25. The supervisors initially considered higher reductions during the June 3 meeting as part of the county's recent cannabis program revisions.
The board ultimately agreed that staff should explore the 1,417-acre option, which "provides a buffer for projects that are still in the pipeline, accounting for long-standing applicants and pending approvals," county cannabis program manager Carmela Beck explained at the June 3 hearing.
Current cannabis cultivation projects in unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County total to 1,190 acres, while an additional 167 acres are tied to projects in the works that have already been approved. Beck returned before the board at its Aug. 19 meeting for the cap reduction's first reading. She also led a presentation to address staff's responses to the Santa Barbara County grand jury's June 20 report titled Cannabis Taxation and Expenditures.
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