In the brisk early hours of Tuesday December 9's morning, Scott Orr, Sonoma County's planning and permitting director, posted outside the main administrative building yellow and orange signs showing the distance of proposed setback requirements for commercial cannabis farms.
Land-use policy discussions don't often include such displays, but the signs were another signal of the sharp debate that was expected to prevail Tuesday as the Board of Supervisors was set to adopt revised and controversial regulations governing the commercial cannabis industry outside city limits.
The ordinance overhaul marks the first significant change to the county's regulations of commercial cannabis cultivation, sales and distribution since 2018. The board voted 4 to 1 to adopt the new rules, which will take effect July 1. The vote capped a fractious and labored process launched by the county in 2021 to amend its rules governing commercial cannabis and settle years of criticism from the local legal industry seeking relief from what they called a burdensome permitting process. Residents, as well, have been outspoken, seeking stronger safeguards against noise, odor and strain on limited water supplies.
Supervisor David Rabbitt, the lone "no" vote, criticized the ordinance as failing to adequately protect neighborhoods, including those in agricultural areas, from the impacts of outdoor cannabis cultivation.
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