NEVADA CITY, Calif. January 4, 2018 – At their January 9th meeting the Board of Supervisors will dedicate the afternoon session to taking another step towards final rules for cannabis cultivation in Nevada County. The BOS will receive the final report based on Cannabis Community Advisory Group’s (CAG) recommendations, then is expected to thank the CAG members for their service and dissolve the group.

The group’s recommendation mirror the existing state regulations closely. The members agreed on prohibiting Medium cultivation licenses in the county (outdoor cultivation site between 10,001 square feet and 1 acre of total canopy/ indoor cultivation site between 10,001 and 22,000 square feet of total canopy). For other commercial cultivation, the group adopted the state’s definitions:

License Type*

Outdoor

Mixed Light

Indoor

Specialty Cottage

25 plants

2,500 sq. ft.

500 sq. ft.

Specialty

5,000 sq. ft. or 50 plants

2,501-5,000 sq. ft.

501-5,000 sq. ft.

Small

5,001-10,000 sq. ft.

5,001-10,000 sq. ft.

5,001-10,000 sq. ft.

* This table exactly matches the State license definitions.

CAG recommendations to the BOS are non-binding.

CAG Recommendations

Over the course of ten meetings in 2017, the sixteen-member CAG worked with MIG, Inc., a consultant hired by the county, to come to a consensus on the recommendations contained in MIG’s final report to the BOS. MIG prepared the summary below:

CAG RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY TABLE

This tables summarizes the CAG recommendations and indicates the level of agreement reached by the CAG for each recommendation. The CAG used the six levels of agreement scale described in the table below.

CAG Level of Agreement Scale

1 = I fully agree
2 = I find it acceptable and believe it is the best option available
3 = I can live with this direction, but I am not that enthusiastic about it
4 = I do not agree, but will go with the wisdom of the group and not oppose this
5 = I do not feel we have any unity of opinion on this topic and more discussion is needed 6 = I disagree with this direction

STRONG AGREEMENT: at least 2/3 of CAG members responding chose 1, 2 or 3

MODERATE AGREEMENT: between 1/2 and 2/3 of CAG members responding chose 1, 2 or 3

UNDETERMINED LEVEL OF AGREEMENT: could not reach moderate agreement through CAG process

1. Personal Outdoor Cultivation

CAG RECOMMENDATIONS

LEVEL OF AGREEMENT

1.1 Allow outdoor cultivation of up to 6 plants for personal use in areas zoned AG, AE, FR, TPZ.

Strong Agreement

  1. Allow outdoor cultivation for personal use in areas zoned R1 and RA under the following conditions:

    1. Prohibit outdoor cultivation on parcels under one acre.

    2. On parcels of 1 acre or larger, allow a maximum of 6 plants outdoors.

1.2.1

Undetermined 1.2.2

Moderate Agreement

1.3 Require plants to be placed at a minimum setback of 30 feet from the edge of the plant canopy to the property line.

Moderate Agreement

1.4 Limit cultivation for personal use to parcels with a residence and a full-time resident on the premises where the cultivation is occurring.

Strong Agreement

  1. Prevent any visible evidence of cultivation from ground level under the following conditions:

    1. Limit outdoor cultivation for personal use to rear or side yard, unless front yard provides greater screening and distance from adjacent parcels and neighboring permitted structures.

    2. Limit outdoor cultivation to areas entirely enclosed by solid opaque fencing associated with the dwelling, a locked gate, and fence at least 6 feet in height.

    3. Require the height of plants not to exceed standard fence height of 6 feet.

Strong Agreement

1.6 Prohibit outdoor cultivation in R2 and R3 zones.

Strong Agreement

2. Non-Remuneration (gifting for medical purposes only)

CAG RECOMMENDATIONS

LEVEL OF AGREEMENT

2.1 For the purposes of non-remuneration, allow a primary caregiver to support up to 5 qualified patients (Business and Professions Code 26033).

Strong Agreement

2.2 Allow per qualified patient a maximum of 20 plants and 500 square feet cultivation area. (No State license is required).

Moderate Agreement

2.3 Apply commercial cultivation land use and zoning requirements to non- remuneration cultivation sites.

Strong Agreement

2.4 Require a permit for non-remuneration cultivation, including a Live Scan resulting with no felony convictions.

Strong Agreement

3. Commercial Cultivation

CAG RECOMMENDATIONS

LEVEL OF AGREEMENT

3.1 Mirror State license definitions to establish a maximum cultivation area in the County per permit and license type for the following cannabis cultivation licenses.

Strong Agreement

3.2 Require a minimum setback of 100 feet from property line for all allowable commercial cultivation license types.

Undetermined

  1. Allow Specialty Cottage and Specialty commercial cultivation in areas zoned AG, AE, FR and RA under the following conditions:

    1. For outdoor commercial cultivation:

    2. For Specialty Indoor and Specialty Cottage Indoor commercial cultivation, require a minimum parcel size of 2 acres.

    3. For Mixed-Light commercial cultivation:

3.3.1-A For Specialty Outdoor require a minimum parcel size of 5 acres.

3.3.1-B For Specialty Cottage Outdoor require a minimum parcel size of 3 acres.

3.3.3-A For Specialty Mixed-Light require a minimum parcel size of 5 acres.

3.3.3-B For Specialty Cottage Mixed-Light require a minimum parcel size of 3 acres.

3.3.1-A, 3.3.2 and

3.3.3

Strong Agreement

3.3.1-B

Moderate Agreement

  1. Allow Small commercial cultivation in areas zoned AG, AE, FR and RA with the following conditions:

    1. For Small Outdoor, require a minimum parcel size of 10 acres.

    2. For Small Indoor, require a minimum parcel size of 2 acres.

    3. For Small Mixed-Light, require a minimum parcel size of 3 acres.

3.4.1

Strong Agreement

3.4.2 and 3.4.3 Moderate Agreement

3.5 Prohibit Medium cultivation licenses in the County (outdoor cultivation site between 10,001 square feet and 1 acre of total canopy/ indoor cultivation site between 10,001 and 22,000 square feet of total canopy).

Strong Agreement

3.6 Allow cannabis nurseries with a Conditional Use Permit in areas zoned AG and AE.

Strong Agreement

3.7 Limit commercial cultivation to parcels that have a permitted residence on them or to vacant parcels that are contiguous to an adjacent parcel under the same ownership.

Strong Agreement

4. Other Commercial Activities

CAG RECOMMENDATIONS

LEVEL OF AGREEMENT

  1. Permit the following State cannabis manufacturing licenses with a Conditional Use Permit in areas zoned M1:

    1. Type 6: Extraction licenses using mechanical methods or nonvolatile solvents

    2. Type N: Infusion licenses that produce edible products or topical products

    3. Type P: Packaging and Labeling licenses

Strong Agreement

4.2 Prohibit volatile manufacturing licenses (State License Type 7) in the County

Strong Agreement

4.3 Permit Testing Laboratory licenses with an Administrative Development Permit in areas zoned C2 and M1.

Strong Agreement

4.4 Permit Retailer and Non-Storefront Retailer licenses (dispensaries and delivery) with a Conditional Use Permit in areas zoned C2 and CH.

Strong Agreement

4.5 Permit Distribution and Transportation licenses with a Conditional Use Permit in areas zoned CH and M1.

Strong Agreement

  1. Permit Microbusiness licenses with a Conditional Use Permit in areas zoned AG, AE and M1 under the following conditions:

    1. In areas zoned AG and AE:

    2. In areas zoned M1 require a setback of 100 foot.

4.6.1-A For microbusinesses with a cultivation area of up to 5,000 sq. ft. require a minimum parcel size of 5 acres.

4.6.1-B For microbusinesses with a cultivation area of up to 10,000 sq. ft. require a minimum parcel size of 10 acres.

4.6.1-A Strong Agreement

4.6.1-B and 4.6.2

Moderate Agreement

5. Setbacks

CAG RECOMMENDATIONS

LEVEL OF AGREEMENT

5.1 Conform to State regulations regarding setbacks: Require a 600 foot setback from the property line of any active school, park, child care center or youth-oriented facility to the property line of any cannabis related activities.

Undetermined

6. Cannabis Permitting

CAG RECOMMENDATIONS

LEVEL OF AGREEMENT

6.1 Develop a permit application process following a three-step permitting, inspection, and enforcement process which includes an application compliance inspection, final compliance inspection and annual compliance inspection.

Strong Agreement

7. Inspections, Monitoring and Enforcement

CAG RECOMMENDATIONS

LEVEL OF AGREEMENT

7.1 Provide a cure or grace period through March 1, 2020, to allow time for cultivation sites with land use, zoning, and/or building code violations to be corrected and brought into compliance with the new cannabis ordinance and all County Land Use code requirements.

Strong Agreement

Planned Future Steps, according to MIG report

  • County Staff will draft revisions to the current ordinance based on recommendations and direction from the BOS.
  • County Staff will conduct an environmental review specific to the draft updated ordinance.
  • The County Planning Commission and BOS will review the proposed draft revisions to the ordinance.
  • The BOS will review, consider and adopt a revised ordinance.

The BOS will start to hear this item on Tuesday, January 9, 2018, starting at 1:30 pm.