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A recent statement made by County Supervisor Haschak published in the Willits News about the proposed Phase 3 Cannabis Cultivation Ordinance stokes fear of “devastating” effects and spreads misinformation about environmental damage from legal cannabis in the same way photographs that are published by the Ukiah Daily Journal of reported trashed cannabis cultivation sites not identified as either legal/illegal could be seen in almost any County in California. Where is the site and is the premises licensed by CDFA? The facts are important because they reveal the truth about the current state of Proposition 64 and cannabis cultivation in Mendocino County which most all would agree isn’t working for the residents of Mendocino County.
The CDFA has issued 791 cultivation licenses excluding processor, nursery, and indoor. The canopy square feet of the 791 licensed premises is 147 acres or 8,174 square feet per license. Designation as a mom or pop or legacy or artisan cultivator matters little in this argument. There is no big cannabis business in Mendocino. We are all small farmers facing the same issues as our neighboring cultivator and all would benefit from Phase 3. Phase 3 provides more cultivation strategies (biomass, full sun, green house, fresh frozen) with the likelihood of better economics. Incrementally higher production leveraging off existing farm infrastructure improvements – even small ones already made by license holders to obtain a license – means greater yields at a low marginal cost and the possibility of profits that are missing under the current regulatory scheme. It all feeds back into the economy and benefits all residents of Mendocino County. Cultivation begets processing/manufacturing begets distribution and so goes the cannabis ecosystem. Processing/manufacturing license holders who wholesale cannabis flower or manufactured products need more cannabis production in Mendocino to compete with the demands from buyers throughout the State of California who will turn to neighboring counties. Small production lots from 10,000 square feet canopy farms in Mendocino is inefficient to gather, process, and wholesale. Cultivators are reliant on processors to add value and get their product into dispensaries. And why bother with an Appellation project or biodynamic designations designed to lift up small farms if the output is too small to make a difference?
Environmental devastation is the Complex Fire of 2020 that decimated the grape and cannabis harvest. There are over 18,000 acres of vineyards in Mendocino County and crop losses over $500 million in 2020. Fortunately for vineyard operators crop insurance is readily available and economically feasible whereas cannabis has no such safety net. Alleged widespread environmental damage by “small grows” or any other legal cannabis operation is not supported by any facts and predictions of doom and destruction of the environment and way of life in Mendocino is irresponsible. Regular agriculture dominates the County and nothing proposed would change that. In fact one could argue regular agriculture of vineyard production and cattle and calf populations in Mendocino contribute more to the environmental crisis than 147 acres of cannabis cultivation. License holders have demonstrated their commitment to responsible and environmentally sound cultivation practices and conformed to the strict requirements of CDFW and the Water Board. Many of the UR and RL license holders permitted premises will not qualify for expanded cultivation because water restrictions and infrastructure investments (roads, wells) will make it economically unfeasible.
The biggest failure of legal cannabis for Mendocino residents has been the inability of the County to control illegal cultivation that takes place in rural unincorporated Mendocino County. District 3 has 70 percent of CDFA licenses and of the 147 acres of licensed cannabis, 119 acres are in AG, UR, and RL zoned land predominately in District 3.
Law enforcement and code enforcement are separate cannabis issues and responsibilities. The Sheriff’s Department has been chronically underfunded. Rural unincorporated areas in District 3 are difficult to surveil and patrol for illegal cannabis activities. The County needs to make a major investment in law enforcement which it has been unwilling to do. Code enforcement and permitting is an administrative challenge that can be met by strong leadership with the will to build consensus and move forward with some creativity. The status quo will not work in Mendocino County and Supervisor Hachek admitted as much with the mea culpa that “permits were wrongly granted”. So why would Mendocino County want to continue to impoverish its residents and ignore the facts? Proposition 64 is the voice of the people. It can’t be changed by the legislature (without a super majority). Reform is within the reach of the Board of Supervisors so please take action and improve the lives of your constituents.
Respectfully
William Claus
Mendocino County is not following a smart growth model. There are too many people living in tents, on farms, as it is. Too many people, not enough housing, and no money from the cannabis industry is going towards fixing the problem. For houses, you need water and sewer. Where are the fees to pay for this? Where is the plan to develop more housing? Why are there so many trailers and tents on big giant greenhouse grows already? The folks that have stepped up to become legal are being punished and the ones operating in the grey areas don’t have to abide by any laws. These problems need to be fixed before blazing forward in hopes of bringing in more tax revenue for the county.
When I talk to those who lived in Albion before people started to grow MJ they say the rivers in the community were always clear and you could see the bottom. When MJ became the major hidden crop the rivers turned green in the summer after the rains of winter washed all the fertilizer into the rivers. I do not know how much of this is true or real but I do know that the rivers are not as clean as they could be. Every time I dive in the Albion river I try to bring home as much trash as I can to throw away. We have so many problems in our community and all we seem to do about them as a society is keep looking for “bigger” as if that is always better.
There are 2 large commercial grows from LA in my community so don’t tell me everybody is small time. Worse, these ‘businesses’ do nothing for the community, including the road maintenance that any business would see are basic infrastructure needs relevant to their ability to function. the road associations. The windstorms back in March collapsed all the greenhouses of one group, bordering the creek, with sheet plastic and fractured pvc all down in the creek bed. They took a few weeks to slowly clean it up, basically building back in the same place. The property across from me had their well driller (Weeks) sight in on our well (the driller came right out and stated such), and we fear running out of water as he bulldozes his property flat and installs more greenhouses. I can only fear what expansion would bring to communities such as ours. Until these people try to be part of the community, and make an effort to site appropriately for the environment, I don’t support any expansion.