When legalized commercial cannabis cultivation arrived on the scene in Santa Barbara County, it did so with a loud scream and a shout; today, it’s become more of a subdued whimper.
In its first seven years, cannabis taxes generated on average $8.5 million a year for the County of Santa Barbara — that’s cultivation and retail sales. For the last fiscal year that just ended in June, cannabis operations yielded the county of Santa Barbara $5 million. This information, presented to the county supervisors this Tuesday, is a continuation of a long, slow downward slide.
Reflecting the boom-and-bust cycles typical of most “next best things,” cannabis producers quickly glutted the market — both in Santa Barbara and statewide — and the initial high prices cannabis commanded could no longer be sustained. That, coupled with the high cost of regulatory compliance, chased some out of the market, and in Carpinteria there are stories about greenhouse growers now reverting back to cut flowers.
Where Planning Commission agendas used to be choked with cannabis projects and their appeals, right now there are no appeals on the commission’s horizon. And only one is now slated for the supervisors themselves.
With Supervisor Laura Capps and Roy Lee now on the board, the supervisors have been tightening down on a crop famous for the secondhand odors wafting from its cultivation centers. Carbon-filter odor scrubbers — regarded as the best available technology — are now required and have been installed at 11 sites with plans submitted for another 26.
In Carpinteria, the maximum allowable cultivation caps were dropped from 186 acres to 134. Countywide, it was dropped from 1,575 acres to 1,4176. In years past, tax compliance was a significant concern, in the last quarter, only two operators filed no taxes. Fifteen reported zero gross receipts and 33 filed reports showing some receipts.
