The county supervisors drew the line on a March 18 deadline by which 22 commercial cannabis cultivators had to get carbon-based odor scrubbers installed, rejecting a time extension requested by eight of them.
“The neighbors don’t get extensions,” said 1st District Supervisor Roy Lee, who represents Carpinteria, the area where most of the county’s greenhouse operations are located and where complaints about cannabis odors remain most numerous and intense. Lee ran for office and won by campaigning against cannabis against an entrenched incumbent with strong ties to the industry. Lee said the growers have had long enough time to address the problem and expressed impatience that they hadn’t acted sooner. He didn’t see evidence of any act of God, he said; instead, he saw operators who just started late.
“It’s complicated,” he said. “but not that complicated.”
The vote was 4-to-1, with Supervisor Steve Lavagnino — one of the supervisors who most eagerly embraced the fiscal potential of the new industry. Lavagnino questioned what harm a few months’ extension could cause.
The scrubbers are by no means cheap, and their installation comes at a time when the cannabis industry’s moon is very much on the wane. Those who fail to comply risk having their business licenses suspended or revoked.
