Final December 19th CAG Meeting before proposed regulations head to BOS

December 18, 2017 – The Cannabis Regulation Community Advisory Group (CAG) has met nine times over the last seven months to discuss and develop recommendations for a revised Cannabis Ordinance. CAG discussions have included adult use and medical use, cultivation for personal and commercial use, and related activities licenses by the State of California. At the ninth meeting, MIG, an independent facilitator guiding the community planning process, presented a summary to the CAG including several areas where a high level of agreement was developed as well as a summary of the CAG’s input regarding land use parameters where cultivation and other cannabis businesses could be allowed.  This review was the first step of developing the content for the report that MIG is required to provide to the Board of Supervisors per their consulting contract.

At the ninth meeting, CAG members requested another meeting to review MIG’s formatted report prior to its presentation to the Board of Supervisors.  A final tenth CAG meeting is scheduled to review MIG’s Draft CAG Recommendations Report on Tuesday, December 19^th, from 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Foothill Events Center, 400 Idaho Maryland Road in Grass Valley. At this final meeting, the CAG will have the opportunity to review MIG’s draft CAG Recommendations Report and provide feedback on each individual recommendation included in the report. An agenda for Tuesday’s meeting and MIG’s draft CAG Recommendations Report is published on the Cannabis Conversation website.

Following Tuesday’s CAG meeting, MIG will finalize and present the CAG’s recommendations to the Board at the January 9^th Board of Supervisors meeting. After MIG’s presentation, the Board will decide if they will accept MIG’s report (concluding their contractual obligations), and dissolve the CAG, thanking them for their time and input during the community planning process.

Before drafting a new ordinance, County staff will request Board direction regarding which recommendations to include. Factors such as allowing commercial activities, cultivation size, setbacks and zoning will determine the level of environmental review (CEQA) that will be required for the new ordinance. Most likely, a consultant will need to be contracted with in order to complete the environmental review as efficiently as possible.  These decision points will determine the timeline for the new ordinance implementation.