Wasting no time in the New Year, two members of the new county Board of Supervisors have scheduled a hearing for next Tuesday to consider stronger odor-control regulations for the cannabis greenhouse industry in the Carpinteria Valley.
The move by board Chair Laura Capps of Goleta and Supervisor Bob Nelson of Orcutt comes on the heels of the Jan. 7 swearing-in of Roy Lee, a former Carpinteria councilman who replaces Das Williams, a fellow Carpinterian, in the First Supervisorial District. Williams played a leading role in drafting the county's permissive cannabis ordinance of 2018, opening the door to the wholesale conversion of flower greenhouses into what some residents refer to as the "cannabis industrial complex" ringing their small beach town.
Capps and Nelson want to amend the ordinance to require the installation of state-of-the art carbon filtration technology, commonly known as "scrubbers," at each of the 29 cannabis greenhouse operations approved by the county just beyond the city limits of Carpinteria. Growers would have 12 months to comply from the date that the board approves the measure, unless they apply for an extension to allow time for electrical upgrades or other "legitimate challenges."
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