Title
HEARING - To consider the Department of Agriculture recommending the Board approve and authorize the Chair to sign an urgency Ordinance 5154 extending an interim moratorium on the cultivation of industrial hemp for all purposes within the unincorporated areas of the County of El Dorado for twelve (12) months and direct staff to develop an ordinance for a permanent ban on industrial hemp.
FUNDING: N/A
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Following a presentation on industrial hemp by the Agriculture Department on June 23, 2020, the Board appointed District I Supervisor John Hidahl and District IV Supervisor Lori Parlin to a Hemp Ad Hoc Committee, and directed the Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures, the Sheriff, and the Hemp Program Ad Hoc Committee to return to the Board for further direction.
On December 15, 2020, the Ad Hoc Committee recommended and the Board adopted Urgency Ordinance 5137 implementing a temporary forty-five day moratorium on the cultivation of industrial hemp (Legistar Item #20-1481). The Board approved an extension for an additional ten months (10) and fifteen (15) days on January 26, 2021 (Legistar Item #21-0045).
Beginning in September of 2020, the Hemp Ad Hoc Committee held six public meetings to discuss developing reasonable regulations for the cultivation of industrial hemp in the County. The Hemp Ad Hoc Committee discussed several topics, including reasonable setback amounts, odor concerns, and pollen drift concerns. In those meetings, the committee discovered that the science and data surrounding the impact of hemp cultivation on agriculture is new and evolving.
The committee was particularly concerned of the potential impact of the cultivation of hemp on the emerging cannabis industry and potential effects on wine grapes and other existing El Dorado County agricultural crops. Santa Rosa Junior College has embarked upon a multi-year program to define and quantify the agricultural impacts from hemp and corresponding...
Click here for full text