Legacy agriculture took one in the pants on Tuesday, when Santa Barbara’s County Board of Supervisors approved a 50-acre cannabis field that will be situated at the Santa Rita Hills gateway. It will be the biggest operation yet for the bud-friendly county.
Santa Barbara Independent
- In December, the Planning Commission turned down West Coast Farms LLC, saying the proposed area covered too much of the property and would cause unpleasant smells. Potential “pesticide drift” onto the lucrative cannabis crop and conflicts with “legacy agriculture” were also cited as reasons for the denial. The reversal was led by Supervisor Steve Lavagnino. “We’re in a fiscal crisis,” Lavagnino says. “I don’t know where everybody thinks we’re going to pay for all these things we need to do in this county.”
- West Coast Farms was the second project approved since quarantine. On March 17, Santa Barbara approved 22 acres of outdoor cannabis cultivation, on 62 acres at Busy Bee Organics, a half mile east of West Coast Farms.
