ZF #2023-039: Consider a request for a Cannabis Use Permit to allow issuance of a cannabis cultivation license for up to two acres of canopy for Bro Properties LLC, issuance of self-distribution license and nursery 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 16.5-acre agriculturally zoned parcel at 24701 County Road 22A, approximately 1.2 miles southwest of unincorporated community of Esparto (APN: 049-180-059) (Applicant/Owner: Kokyou Chau) (Planner: Charlie Tschudin)

That the Planning Commission:

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 and issuance of a self-distribution license for Bro Properties LLC, (“Bro Properties”) will provide continued business opportunity for the operator to compete in the regulated cannabis industry. The regional nursery use will contribute to the growth of the cannabis market in Yolo County by providing services and products (immature plants) to other cannabis operators that may not have the capacity of ability for such uses. The project, as conditioned, is in compliance with the Countywide General Plan, Cannabis Land Use Ordinance, and Yolo County Code.

SUMMARY
The project site is a 16.5-acre agriculturally zoned parcel, located approximately 1.2 miles southwest of the town of Esparto. Bro Properties first received a license to cultivate cannabis in 2017 and has continually cultivated since then. Bro Properties currently cultivates up to one-acre of cannabis canopy outdoors in hedgerows and twenty-two hoop houses. The cannabis operations currently occupy approximately six acres of the site and includes a 700-sf processing and storage building, outdoor cannabis cultivation areas, and several trailers. The site also includes a parking area and portable toilets for employees, outdoor propagation area, and refrigerated trailers for cannabis processing, as well as separate storage containers for chemicals, supplies, and cannabis products. The remainder of the approximately 16.5-acre parcel that does not include cannabis uses contains an onsite residence, workshop, and fruit orchard. Field fencing is installed around the entire project site. The site is served by both an onsite agricultural and residential well.

Employees currently utilize seasonal portable toilets and hand-washing stations. Bro Properties proposes to finalize construction of a 3,200-sf processing facility with a new employee restroom and includes plans for construction of a new 3,000-sf commercial greenhouse for nursery cultivation. The project site power is served by PG&E and a small solar array. Bro Properties engages in annual outdoor cultivation, with planting generally beginning in March and the harvesting phases ending in October.

Bro Properties currently employs three full-time employees and up to 20 seasonal employees during harvest periods to assist with drying and trimming, etc. The operator anticipates hiring three additional full-time employees and up to ten additional seasonal employees. Employees commute to the site by way of Highway 16 and Road 85B to minimize travel through the community of Esparto, with direct access off of County Road 22A. Employees are encouraged to carpool to further reduce daily trips to four or five. The applicant anticipates daily trips ranging between 10 and 15 during the harvest season, and off-season daily trips ranging between 5 and 8. The operator anticipates one to two deliveries per week following expansion.  

As required by the CLUO, the applicant has prepared a security plan for the project site. The operation will maintain adequate utilities, access roads, drainage, and sanitation infrastructure in line with County and State regulations, standards, and specifications. All exterior lighting is required to be fully cut-off, shielded, and downward facing to prevent spill over onto other properties, structures, or the night sky.

Bro Properties does not currently satisfy the established CLUO buffers required between off-site sensitive land uses and cannabis cultivation areas. The nearest off-site residences are approximately 435 feet and 560 feet to the northeast of the outdoor canopy. CLUO Section 8-2.1408(e) requires a minimum of 600 feet between off-site residences and outdoor cannabis activities, although existing licensees have the ability to request buffer reductions and/or exceptions to reduce the buffer with Planning Commission approval, on a case-by-case basis. As a part of the project request, the project proponent will adjust the cannabis cultivation areas to portions of the project site that satisfy the 600-foot buffer from off-site residences. The project is conditioned to verify that all cannabis cultivation activities on the site satisfy the 600-foot buffer requirement. Therefore, the project does not include a buffer reduction nor exemption request.

ANALYSIS
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.

General Plan and Zoning Consistency
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 uses, which include activities involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, storing, and trimming of cannabis grown on site, 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 uses are allowed 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 operator is 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
The project involves construction of a 3,000-sf nursery greenhouse and to finalize construction of a 3,200-sf processing facility with a new employee restroom in the southern portion of the site, near the existing developed areas. Bro Properties plans on maintaining self-processing activities (currently performed in two 6’ by 48’ transportation trailers and outdoor trimming areas) until processing activities are moved to the new permitted storage and processing building. The project is conditioned to require the removal of all trailers from the property within one year of project approval. The project includes a request for a cultivation license to increase cannabis canopy by one additional acre, for a total of two acres of canopy, a nursery license, which would allow Bro Properties to grow cannabis used for propagation, including clones, immature plants, and seeds to sell commercially (sales would not occur on the property), and a self-distribution license that would allow the business to transport only the goods they cultivate to off-site manufacturing and distribution premises.

The project site is served by PG&E and solar array panels. 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 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.

Bro Properties cultivates outdoors in hedgerows and in 22 hoop houses, and will continue to do so following project approval, in onsite areas that satisfy the 600-foot buffer requirement in CLUO Section 8-2.1408(e). The operator will expand the area cultivated in hedgerows to accommodate the proposed increase from one- to two-acres of canopy and will move seven of the existing 22 hoop houses on the western portion of the property, that are located within 600 feet of the two nearest off-site residences, further to the southwest of the existing cultivation area. The adjustment will satisfy the buffer requirements and be verified as a condition of the project approval. The construction of a 3,000 SF greenhouse is to facilitate nursery cultivation of immature clones.  

The CLUO addresses odor impacts through limiting the location of cannabis uses, and establishing buffers for outdoor cannabis uses, odor control requirements, and enforcement procedures. However, while these measures may minimize the likelihood of nuisance 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, 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 north-northwest and south-southeast, parallel with the mountain range.

The project relies on groundwater from an onsite agricultural well for cultivation. The applicant estimates using approximately two acre feet of water per year if two acres of canopy are cultivated. 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
The project site is located in the agricultural area southwest of Esparto, at 24701 County Road 22A. The site is accessed from County Road 22A through a locked gate via a graveled driveway that leads to the parking and vehicle turn-around area. The 16.5-acre parcel is surrounded by fencing and contains a fruit orchard.

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 agriculturally designated land on all sides. The parcel immediately to the west of the project site is a licensed cannabis operation, Capay Valley Organics, that received use permit approval in June of 2024, and the parcels to the north, south and east are agriculturally designated but not actively farmed.

Cannabis operations are not visible from the portions of County Road 22A 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.

Buffers and Setbacks
The project does not currently meet 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 approximately 435 feet to the northeast of the outdoor canopy area. There is another agricultural homesite located approximately 560 feet to the northeast of the cultivation area. The project request involves adjusting the site plan and moving the cultivation areas to portions of the project site that will meet the buffer requirements from sensitive land uses as set forth in the CLUO. The applicant proposes to reduce the existing number of hoop houses located on the western portion of the project site from 12 to 7, and will relocate portions of the hoop house cultivation area that are within the 600-foot buffer further southwest to portions of the property that satisfy the buffer requirement (Attachment B), while maintaining the same number of hoop houses on site.  The project will be conditioned to verify that the proposed cultivation areas adhere to the 600-foot buffer requirement.

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, however, several complaints have been lodged with the Cannabis Unit. From October 2019 to present, eleven formal complaints have been lodged against cannabis operators within the Lamb Valley area, an area south of Esparto in close proximity to Lamb Valley Slough. Two of the complaints specifically reference Bro Properties, while the remaining nine complaints reference various other cannabis operations. Of the two specific Bro Properties complaints, one was submitted in January 2020 and one was submitted in December 2024. Both complaints were with regard to odor and the January 2020 complaint also mentioned that there was light shining off the back side of the onsite residence and that cars were parked along County Road 22A and County Road 85B at various times.

The County’s online complaint form asks complainants to specify a particular cannabis operation so staff can follow up appropriately. The remaining nine Lamb Valley complaints submitted between October 2019 and present were assigned to other cannabis operations. However, since many of the complaints were generalized odor complaints, Cannabis Unit staff cannot rule out that Bro Properties was not a contributing factor. Nonetheless, staff conducted odor monitoring in response to several of the complaints where warranted, including at the Bro Properties operation, and never obtained readings that met or exceeded nuisance thresholds (i.e., readings did not meet or exceed the 7:1 D/T standard).

CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) REVIEW
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, and that no additional environmental review is required.

SUMMARY OF PUBLIC CORRESPONDENCE
A Request for Comments was distributed to reviewing agencies on ­­­­­­­­­­­May 24, 2024. Comments received from reviewing agencies were incorporated into the Conditions of Approval (Attachment E) where applicable. A Courtesy Notice was also distributed on ­­­­­­­­­­­May 24, 2024, 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. The Courtesy Notice summarized the existing and proposed operations as provided in the application materials.

Staff received five comment letters from members of the public. Two of the letters received expressed support for project approval.  The other three letters received raised concerns about expanding the cultivation area from one to two acres of canopy and thereby increasing the cannabis odors in the area, which are not contained due to the nature of outdoor cultivation. The comments also raised concerns about the potential for crime to increase in the area and livestock safety, and discussed buffer exceptions and buffer reductions. As described above, the applicant is adjusting the location of onsite cannabis cultivation areas to adhere to the 600-foot buffer requirement from offsite residences. The remaining concerns addressed in the neighbors’ comment letters can be alleviated to the greatest extent possible by operational oversite of odor control measures, as needed, and site maintenance, and security measures as required in the Conditions of Approval. The applicant was made aware of the concerns in the comment letters. Written comments received from the public area included as Attachment F.

The project site is located in the Esparto Citizens Advisory Committee (ECAC) comment area and the project was discussed at their November 19, 2024, meeting. The meeting was attended by staff, applicant/property owner, and members of the public. The ECAC recommended approval of the applicant’s project request to the Planning Commission (Ayes: 6, Noes: 1), with discussion around cannabis and agricultural odors, the CLUO definition of over concentration and when the Esparto area would be considered overconcentrated, questions regarding the nuisance complaint procedure, as well as questions related to water and pesticide use at the site. The 6 members of the ECAC who voted to recommend approval of the project noted that the project appeared to comply with the CLUO requirements and that the project applicant is a member of the community, whom they also represent as members of the ECAC. The ECAC member who voted against recommending project approval noted how there are members of the Esparto community who feel that the area is already overconcentrated with cannabis operations, despite the CLUO’s definition that sets a maximum threshold of seven Cannabis Use Permits in any six-mile diameter area.

The Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office reviewed the project and indicated that there were no concerns with regard to compatibility with the surrounding properties, and that the property owner actively manages the fruit orchard which contains peaches, nectarines, apricots, and other citrus. The Ag Commissioner comments also indicated the need for maintaining the site and preventing pests through proper site management. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation was sent a Request for Comments but did not submit a comment letter; however, 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.

A public hearing notice was mailed to property owners within 1,000 feet of the project site and to interested parties on December 23, 2024, and published in the Davis Enterprise on January 5, 2025.

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