While cannabis odor has concerned John Parke in the past when it comes to project proposals, the Santa Barbara County 3rd District Planning Commissioner voted alongside his colleagues to approve a cannabis processing project near Buellton and deny an appeal from neighbors during the July 31 Planning Commission hearing.
"We have several experienced commissioners who have learned to probe these projects. We did that as well as we could, and we have found nothing that should tell us that this appeal should be approved," Parke said during the meeting.
Sierra Botanicals LLC—an existing operator in the county that received its land use permit to cultivate cannabis on 2.3 acres in 2019—requested to use its 3,149-square-foot barn to process cannabis on-site, with about 60 percent of it coming from other operators, according to the county staff report. Processing will consist of cutting, drying, curing, storing, and packaging products with up to 10 permanent employees added to help with operations. Sierra Botanicals will use carbon scrubbers, the best available technology, to help with odor abatement.
"Sierra Botanicals has been an annual license holder in Santa Barbara for more than three years, and even when there's been challenges with the regulators, Sierra Botanicals has consistently made the choice to work with the regulators and adjust to their feedback to be a partner with the county in the cannabis industry," said Kapono Curry, founder of Bay Kinetic consulting who represented Sierra Botanicals.
Read more at santamariasun.com