Cannabis Farmers & Neighbors Reach a Plan of Peace

Commemorating the signing of a private agreement guaranteeing excellence in local cannabis are from left, Rob Salomon, board member of SB Coalition for Responsible Cannabis; Tristan Strauss, VP CARP Growers; Autumn Shelton, President CARP Growers; and Lionel Neff, board member SB Coalition for Responsible Cannabis. Photo by Fran Collin.

By Peter Dugré

Cannabis farmers and their one-time foes signed an historic agreement in 2021 that outlines how to farm cannabis in a way that’s aligned with the Community of Carpinteria. The agreement was brokered between CARP Growers, the local farmers group, and the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis, the watchdog group that traditionally has advocated for Santa Barbara County to enforce even tighter rules on the new industry. The private agreement took nearly a year to finalize and binds 10 cannabis farm operators at 23 properties to new communitybased standards of excellence.

What’s in the agreement It’s all about fixing odor through a community partnership built on transparency and accountability. The Coalition historically appealed all cannabis farm permits in Carpinteria Valley but now will support CARP Growers member farms who have signed on to follow enhanced community standards laid out in the agreement. Cannabis farmers now work in lockstep with the Coalition on a Work Plan that includes a commitment to advancing odor control technology, installing a network of weather stations to identify likely odor sources and launching a platform for community odor incident reporting and response. The ultimate goal for each side is to have no cannabis nuisance odors in the valley and to get there from a foundation of science. Cannabis farmers continue to invest millions of dollars in new odor abatement technology and into studying the anatomy of cannabis odor in a way that leads to better odor control techniques.

Why it’s important Cannabis became legal in California—the world’s biggest market— in 2016, but five years later, some of the state’s most productive cannabis companies still are trying to get land use entitlements to legally grow cannabis in Santa Barbara County.

Most CARP Growers member farms operate as legal nonconforming while navigating new requirements of the strict local cannabis ordinance. Legal nonconforming is a precarious status for valuable farming companies who need to make long term investments to remain competitive. These preexisting farms could grow virtually any other crop without new land use permits, but cannabis operates by a stricter set of rules. Without permits, farms would have to close.

Community groups like the Coalition have been able to hold up the county permitting process with appeals. In most cases, cannabis farms make significant investments in infrastructure upgrades to comply with the county ordinance. This process plays out over several years and involves both local and state regulatory bodies in the areas of fish and wildlife, water resources, fire safety, air quality, building, and transportation, among others. Once farms complete the process, county staff will recommend issuing permits, but neighbors will appeal, launching hearings at great expense to taxpayers and business owners.

The agreement between CARP Growers and the Coalition is designed to set clear community-based standards for Carpinteria Valley farmers in a way that shows county staff and representatives that projects are locally compatible.

How does it change the future of local cannabis farming? This historic agreement signifies that the cannabis industry is sustainable in our area. The watchdog group looked more closely at how cannabis was farmed locally and learned more about local operators who make up CARP Growers. The result was the building of trust and the formation of a partnership between two groups that were formerly light years apart. All parties are now following through to build a lasting cannabis industry that represents the gold standard for the state of California and the world. CS

Editor’s note: Peter Dugré is the Executive Director of CARP Growers.