ZF #2018-0018: Consider a request for a Cannabis Use Permit to allow issuance of cannabis cultivation licenses for up to two acres of canopy each for colocation of Yolo 1, LLC, and Yolo 2, LLC, for a total of four acres of cannabis canopy, issuance of a cannabis nursery license, and issuance of a cannabis self-distribution license, and determine the project falls within the scope of the previously certified Yolo County Cannabis Land Use Ordinance Environmental Impact Report and that no further environmental review is required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The project is located on a 40-acre agriculturally-zoned parcel at 31905 County Road 17, approximately 4.25-miles northeast of the unincorporated community of Madison (APN: 049-020-012). (Applicant: Fred Barnum/Owner: Woodland Road 17, LLC) (Planner: Charlie Tschudin)

The proposed Cannabis Use Permit, if approved, will contain an extensive set of conditions that will regulate the use of the property to conduct cannabis cultivation, nursery cultivation, and self-distribution uses. The allowance of up to two acres of canopy for each of the colocated sites will provide additional business opportunities for the operators to continue to compete in the regulated cannabis industry. The nursery and self-distribution uses will contribute to the growth of the cannabis market in Yolo County by providing services to other cannabis operators that may not have the capacity or ability to grow their own ‘teen’ cannabis plants. The project, as conditioned, is in compliance with the Countywide General Plan, Cannabis Land Use Ordinance, and Yolo County Code.

Yolo 1, LLC (Yolo 1) and Yolo 2, LLC (Yolo 2) are separately licensed cannabis business entities that are colocated on a 40-acre agriculturally-zoned parcel. The site has been in cannabis cultivation since 2017, when both Yolo 1 and Yolo 2 first received valid State and County cultivation licenses, which allow up to one acre of canopy each, with self-propagation and self-processing. The site contains 13 permitted refrigerated storage containers which were specifically built for processing, drying, and curing cannabis grown on site. In addition to the processing containers, the site includes forty-four 2,000-sf agricultural hoop houses for cultivation and two 3,000-sf hoop houses for vegetation. The area north of the existing cultivation area provides gravel parking and storage areas, water tanks, and an employee break area, portable restrooms, handwashing areas, and shade structures. There is an on-site well that serves the cultivation area and a retention basin collects runoff near the southern edge of the project site. 

Yolo 1 and Yolo 2 typically engage in year-round cultivation, with the planting phase generally beginning around March and the harvesting phases ending around October and November. Depending on the time of year, the site operates with four full-time employees, working two shifts from 4:00am to 1:00pm, and the second shift working from 7:00am to 4:00pm. The applicant also employs approximately 30 part-time seasonal employees from May to December each year. The employees are encouraged to carpool when feasible. The number of employees decreases from December through February.

The project is located along the south side of County Road 17, approximately two miles east of I-505 and five miles west of I-5. In 2009, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors terminated maintenance on a portion of County Road 17 beginning approximately 1.45 miles west of the project site driveway to approximately 1.37 miles east of the project site driveway. There are no plans for the County to resume maintenance, improve, or rehabilitate County Road 17. Where the road’s maintenance ceases, the site is accessed via a graveled driveway that the applicant maintains subject to Madison Fire District requirements. There are gates along County Road 17 that are locked, and landowners are given a key to open the locks to allow access. As conditioned, the project will continue to maintain the gravel driveway to Madison Fire District standards.

The proposed project would include the addition of one acre of outdoor cultivation for each license, resulting in a total of four acres of mature cannabis canopy on the site. The applicant proposes to expand the cultivation areas to the south and east of the existing cultivation areas in 44 additional 2,000-sf hoop houses. The proposal also includes construction of 88,000-sf mixed light nursery greenhouse facilities, a 1,000-sf office, a 2,000-sf employee break room with restrooms and storage facilities, two 2,000-sf equipment and irrigation storage buildings, a 1,500-sf distribution facility, and a 6,000-sf ground-mounted solar panel array (350-kilowatt).

Development of the site will occur over two phases. The first phase of development will include construction of 11 nursery greenhouses (45,000-sf), the 6,000-sf solar panel array, and the ancillary structures that provide office space, restrooms and break areas, and the storage structures. The second phase of development will include construction of 10 additional nursery greenhouses (43,000-sf) and the distribution building to facilitate shipping and receiving of supplies and orders.

The applicant is also requesting a nursery license for the growing of 'teen' plants (clones) and a self-distribution license for the transport of the clones to other licensed cannabis facilities. The nursery license will allow the applicant to grow cannabis used for propagation, including clones, immature plants, and seeds, and sell them commercially. If approved, the project would receive one of five available nursery licenses. It is important to note that the nursery will not be open to the public and the license does not allow for onsite sales. Crops would continue to be fed by the existing well, which has backflow prevention and is permitted with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The proposed employee breakroom will utilize the same well and include restrooms that will be connected to a new septic system.

If the requested additional licenses are granted, the applicant will develop the 40-acre parcel as described above and shown in Attachment B. The proposed expansion will increase the number of employees to 35-40 full-time employees and will maintain 30 seasonal employees from May to December. Upon completion of the site’s phased development, all employees would work one shift, from 7:00am to 4:00pm. The applicant has pledged to develop and implement a ride-sharing program for the employees to get to and from the site. The daily trip count is anticipated to be approximately 80 trips, including employees, deliveries for operational materials and supplies, delivery of clones, and self-distribution of cannabis cultivated on site.

The proposed project has been reviewed for consistency with the Countywide General Plan and the County Zoning Regulations, including the Cannabis Land Use Ordinance (CLUO). The proposal is also consistent with the CLUO Environmental Impact Report, and no further environmental review is required under the California Environmental Quality Act. As explained, below, the project, as conditioned, is consistent with all applicable plans, policies, and regulations.

The project, as conditioned, is consistent with the Countywide General Plan. The requested use is proposed on a property designated as Agriculture (AG) in the Countywide General Plan. Cannabis cultivation and cannabis nurseries are called out as agricultural activities under the AG land use designation (Policy LU-1.1, and Table LU-4). Further, Policy AG-3.22 reads:

Based on statewide and local voter support, accept cannabis cultivation, nurseries, processing, manufacturing, retail, and microbusiness operations as new agricultural opportunity in support of agricultural economic development, preservation of agricultural land, and creation of opportunities for new farmers. Recognize unique challenges, and competing and evolving community values, by allowing for adaptive regulatory considerations over time.
 

The project furthers policies in the Countywide General Plan that seek to promote a healthy and competitive farm economy to expand the County’s agricultural base, including Policy AG-3.2, which encourages processing on agricultural land subject to appropriate design review and development standards, and Policy AG-3.12 that promotes marketplace-initiated conversion from lower to higher value-added crops and agricultural commodities. The project, when considered as a component of the County’s cannabis industry as a whole, furthers Policy AG-5.1 which promotes markets for locally and regionally grown and/or prepared food and other products and services.

 

The subject property is zoned Agricultural Extensive (A-X). Pursuant to Article 3, of Chapter 2, of Title 8 of the Yolo County Code, cannabis cultivation and nursery uses are permitted in the A-X zone upon issuance of a Cannabis Use Permit. The project meets the development requirements and setbacks prescribed for the A-X zone.

CLUO Consistency

As part of the application review process, staff conducted a thorough review of the project against the applicable provisions of the CLUO. The project, as conditioned, is determined to be in compliance with the CLUO. The applicable provisions of the CLUO are included as conditions of approval (Attachment E). The operators are required to submit an annual report on July 1 of each year starting in the year after permit issuance documenting compliance with the Cannabis Use Permit Requirements.

Project Design and Operation

As described above, the project involves construction of 88,000-sf mixed light nursery greenhouse facilities, a 1,000-sf office, a 2,000-sf employee break room with restrooms and storage facilities, two 2,000-sf equipment and storage buildings, a 1,500-sf distribution facility and a 6,000-sf ground-mounted solar panel array (350-kilowatt). The project site is served by PG&E and the project is conditioned to achieve Valley Clean Energy ultra-green or equivalent standard (100 percent renewable and 100 percent carbon-free) within six months of project approval. The proposed 6,000-sf solar array will supplement the electricity provided by PG&E. The proposed construction will comply with the applicable codes, standards, regulations and guidelines for cannabis cultivation and the proposed development’s general appearance will be compatible with other allowed uses in the A-X zone.

 

The project is conditioned to require the use of LED lighting or equivalent or more efficient technology and is conditioned to require it to be fully controlled so that minimal or no light escapes. The proposed greenhouses will be equipped with automatic blackout curtain systems that will engage at sunset and disengage at sunrise. Outdoor lighting (i.e., security lighting) is required to be full cut-off, shielded, and downward facing so it does not spill over onto other properties or the night sky. The two existing hoop-houses are equipped with low-voltage LED light fixtures that are compliant with applicable building codes and were determined to not require a building permit per a previous Chief Building Official. However, The CLUO considers hoop houses to be an outdoor use and prohibits use of any lighting in hoop houses. The applicant will remove the light fixtures upon completion of the first phase of development, and no later than three years from the date of the project approval (see Condition of Approval #54 in Attachment E).   

 

The CLUO addresses odor impacts through limiting the location of cannabis uses, establishing buffers for outdoor cannabis uses, odor control requirements, and enforcement procedures. However, while these measures may minimize the likelihood of nuisance from odors, the potential for odors to occur remains and was considered a significant and unavoidable impact in the CLUO EIR. The applicant submitted an odor control plan that describes the odor emitting activities and the administrative and passive controls to reduce and control odors to the greatest extent possible. If odor nuisances are verified pursuant to the enforcement procedure set forth in the CLUO, the operator(s) may employ active controls, such as odor neutralizers for the outdoor canopy or carbon filtration systems for the greenhouses and processing building, as well as passive controls such as additional vegetation barriers, different plant strains, or relocation of the outdoor canopy area. The odor control plan identified that the typical winds are expected to blow mainly from the south-southeast and north-northwest, parallel with the Dunnigan Hills. The facility implements and maintains a Good Neighbor Policy that includes a 24-hour local contact who is responsible for responding to questions, concerns, and complaints. The applicant proposes providing information for 24-hour contact to all property owners and residents within 2,000 feet of the property line.

 

The project relies on groundwater from an onsite domestic well for cultivation and will connect that well to the proposed faucets and toilets in the employee breakroom. The applicant estimates using approximately six-acre feet of water per year for the existing cultivation and anticipates an increase to approximately 10 acres of water feet per year, to accommodate the cultivation area expansion, the nursery greenhouses, and bathrooms.  The CLUO EIR analyzed groundwater use for other non-cannabis crops. The analysis demonstrated that the amount of groundwater used for cannabis activities under each of the CEQA alternatives would be similar to the amount used for other crops likely to be grown on the property in the absence of contemplated cannabis uses. The high end of the analysis estimated the cumulative use of all cannabis operations in the County could reach 424-acre feet per year, which equates to approximately the average groundwater used by an orchard of about 131 acres.

Site Setting

Cannabis cultivation and associated uses, such as regional nurseries and onsite processing, are permitted in agricultural zones with a Cannabis Use Permit. The applicant has been cultivating cannabis on an annual basis under validly-issued county and state licenses since 2017. The project site is in an agriculturally zoned area and is surrounded by land in agricultural production on all sides. The project site is fenced, and cannabis operations are not visible from the portions of County Road 17 that are publicly accessible. The project is conditioned to maintain the fence in good repair. The applicant has prepared a security plan and will implement measures to secure the property, such as security cameras, motion detectors, alarms, security guards (when necessary), and administrative controls. The applicant is also required to provide property owners within 1,000 feet of the property line with an operable method of communication with a local or on-site responsible party having prompt access to the site, operations, and activities. This requirement facilitates communication between neighbors related to conditions at the site and operation of the activities. As described above, the applicant proposes increasing the Good Neighbor Policy notification from 1,000 feet to 2,000 feet from the property line.

Buffers and Setbacks

The project meets the buffer requirements from sensitive land uses as set forth in the CLUO. For Existing Licensees, the buffer requirement is 600 feet from outdoor cannabis uses to sensitive land uses, including off-site individual legal residences. The nearest sensitive land use is an agricultural homesite located approximately 1,365 feet away from the existing cultivation area (1,040 feet to the southwest of the southwest corner of the project parcel). Expansion of the outdoor cannabis cultivation area will result in new cultivation areas closer to the agricultural homesite, but would maintain an approximately 1,230 feet buffer from the homesite. The area between the homesite and the cannabis cultivation area is dominated by grasslands and intermittent drainages and swales.

 

Pursuant to General Plan Policy CO-2.22 of the General Plan, and as codified in the CLUO and included in the Conditions of Approval, no new development requiring a building permit, including grading activities, shall be located within 100-feet of waterbodies or watercourses. The proposed expansion of the outdoor cultivation fence line is approximately 200 feet north of the nearest waterbody (a mapped freshwater pond/freshwater emergent wetland) on the parcel to the south. The proposed nursery greenhouses on the north and eastern portion of the property will be located outside the 100-foot buffer from the onsite drainages that run from the Dunnigan Hills through the property. The project is in compliance with this requirement as all proposed development and grading activities satisfy the buffer requirements.

Compliance History

The Department of Community Services, Cannabis Unit, maintains compliance and complaint history dating back to 2019 when the cannabis program moved from the Agriculture Department to the Department of Community Services. The operator has not received a Notice of Violation from the Cannabis Unit during this time. There have been four complaints lodged against the colocated cannabis operations - two in 2019, one in 2021, and one in 2024. All complaints were related to concerns stemming from employees and/or deliveries accessing the property via the unmaintained County Road 17 from the east. Reported issues included loud music coming from vehicles in the early morning, cars getting stuck near County Road 17 west of the gate, and damage to the gate and locks. It should be noted that one complaint in 2019 related to loud music and the 2024 complaint regarding damage to gate/locks could not be verified nor link the complaints to employees of or deliveries to the cannabis operation. The applicant notified staff that employee vehicle information was provided to the Yolo County Sheriff's Office to dispute the 2024 complaint regarding damage to the gate/locks. Nonetheless, it has been clarified that employee and delivery access to and from the property should be from the west of the project site on County Road 17, as the applicant has an obligation to maintain a segment of this road to Madison Fire District standards (from the property entrance to the county-maintained section). Should the applicant want to utilize access to the property from the east, the applicant will be responsible for maintaining that segment of road to Yolo Fire Protection District standards from the property entrance to the county-maintained section of County Road 17 to the east. A condition of approval has been added to this effect.

 

The Cannabis Land Use Ordinance Environmental Impact Report (CLUO EIR) was prepared as a programmatic EIR for adoption of the CLUO and to support streamlined review of individual permit applications pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15168, 15162, and 15183. If the County finds that an individual project is within the scope of the CLUO EIR, its environmental impacts are adequately addressed in the CLUO EIR, and applicable mitigation measures are applied to the project, then no further environmental review is required. Staff prepared a project-specific CLUO Program EIR Checklist (Attachment C) that examines the conclusions reached in the CLUO EIR for each relevant CEQA impact category identified in the CLUO EIR and Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines. Staff determined that the proposed project activities are within the scope of the CLUO EIR, that no additional environmental review is required.

A Request for Comments was distributed to reviewing agencies on ­­­­­­­­­­­July 31, 2018, and again on April 19, 2024. [Please note the applicant originally applied for a Development Agreement under the Early Implementation Development Agreement Policy approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2018, but has since withdrawn the request to seek a Cannabis Use Permit under the CLUO.] Comments received from reviewing agencies were incorporated in the Conditions of Approval (Attachment E) where applicable. A Courtesy Notice was also distributed on August 18, 2018, to the Planning Division’s interested parties list and mailed to property owners within 1,000 feet of the property boundary of the subject parcel, which also included the nearby agricultural homesite. A second Courtesy Notice was sent on July 1, 2024, and staff contacted interested parties by phone to alert those interested parties that the project was moving forward and would be on the July 11th Planning Commission agenda. Staff followed up with individuals on the interested parties list to account for the time between the initial Courtesy Notice and the Planning Commission hearing. The Courtesy Notice summarized the existing and proposed operations as provided in the application materials.

Staff received one response from an adjacent property owner who raised concerns about the potential for crime to increase in the area and noted that cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, as well as citing the water and electricity demand the project would pose. The applicant was made aware of the concerns in the comment letter. As discussed in the Analysis section of this staff report, the amount of groundwater used for cannabis activities under each of the CEQA alternatives would be similar to the amount used for other crops likely to be grown on the property in the absence of contemplated cannabis uses, and the project is conditioned to achieve Valley Clean Energy ultra-green or equivalent standard (100 percent renewable and 100 percent carbon-free) within six months of project approval. The proposed 6,000-sf solar array will supplement the electricity provided by PG&E. The remaining concerns addressed in the neighbor comment letter can be alleviated to the greatest extent possible by operation and site maintenance and security measures as required in the Conditions of Approval. When staff contacted the interested party by phone in June 2024, she mentioned that her initial concerns had been alleviated after discussing with her tenant that the applicant had been a good neighbor and had improved the unmaintained section of County Road 17. No other comment letters were received from the public, including from the nearby agricultural homesite.The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation (“Tribe”) submitted a comment letter dated August 10, 2018 (Attachment F), stating that the project is within the aboriginal territories of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and therefore has a cultural interest and authority in the proposed project area, but based on the information provided, the Tribe is not aware of any known cultural resources near the project site and a cultural monitor is not needed. The Tribe recommended cultural sensitivity training for any pre-project personnel. A condition of approval has been added to require the operator to request cultural sensitivity training with the Tribe prior to the first construction activities requiring a building permit.

The project site is located near the northernmost boundary of the Madison Advisory Committee area, approximately 4.25 miles northeast of the town of Madison; however, the Madison Advisory Committee is not an active committee due to lack of membership. A public hearing notice was mailed to property owners within 1,000 feet of the project site and to interested parties along County Road 17 on June 28, 2024, and published in the Davis Enterprise on June 30, 2024.

Any person who is dissatisfied with the decisions of this Planning Commission may appeal to the Board of Supervisors by filing a notice of appeal with the Clerk of the Board within fifteen (15) days from the date of the action. A Planning Commission Appeal Form and appeal fee immediately payable to “County of Yolo” must be submitted at the time of filing. The Board of Supervisors may sustain, modify or overrule this decision. The Planning Commission Appeal Form can be accessed at the following link: https://www.yolocounty.org/government/board-of-supervisors/clerk-of-the-board/planning-commission-appeal