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Agriculture Department presenting the Ordinance to amend Title 130 of the County Zoning Ordinance to enact regulations for the cultivation of industrial hemp pursuant to the Industrial Hemp Pilot Program Concept
for review and comment to forward to a public hearing at Planning Commission on October 13, 2022. Recommendations will be forwarded to the Board for consideration at the second reading and final adoption hearing at the Board of Supervisors on October 25, 2022.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
On December 7, 2021 the Board directed staff and the joint working committee on industrial hemp, comprising two members of the Community & Economic Development Advisory Committee (CEDAC) and two members of the Agricultural Commission, to 1) continue to explore if all concerns raised in regards to law enforcement and safety issues, impact to neighbors, county cost to regulate, and internal county staffing capacity can be successfully addressed in an ordinance; and 2) by the end of 2022, to bring back an ordinance for an industrial hemp pilot program or an ordinance for the permanent ban on industrial hemp.
On September 13, 2022, staff presented the work of the Industrial Hemp Joint Working Committee and recommended to the Board to pursue the Industrial Hemp Pilot Program Concept. The Board directed staff to return to the Board as soon as possible with a Resolution of Intent (ROI), as required by Zoning Ordinance Section 130.63.020, to pursue the pilot program and to return to the Board with an Industrial Hemp Ordinance as close as possible to the December 6, 2022, moratorium expiration.
On September 20, 2022 the Board of Supervisors adopted a ROI 146-2022 to amend Title 130 of the County Zoning Ordinance to enact regulations for the cultivation of industrial hemp pursuant to the Industrial Hemp Pilot Program Concept.
The industrial hemp pilot program would be a two-year program consisting of five or fewer producers. The ordinance lists requirements for zoning...
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