ZF #2022-0078: 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 Woodland Roots Inc. and Yolo Family Farms Inc., for a total of four acres of cannabis canopy, issuance of a regional processing license and a regional 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 41-acre agriculturally-zoned parcel at 15928 County Road 87, approximately 0.7-mile north of the town of Esparto (APN: 049-140-024). (Applicant: Michael Hicks/Owner: Schwenger Living Trust) (Planner: Jeff Anderson)

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, regional processing, and regional 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 regional processing and 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 process and distribute their products. The project, as conditioned, is in compliance with the Countywide General Plan and Zoning Regulations of the Yolo County Code, including the Cannabis Land Use Ordinance.

SUMMARY
Woodland Roots and Yolo Family Farms are separately licensed cannabis business operations that are colocated on the 41-acre parcel. These entities maintain separate cannabis cultivation licenses and cultivate in separate outdoor cultivation areas at the site; however, they share infrastructure, security, and other operational components. The site has been in cannabis cultivation since 2017. Woodland Roots first received a license in 2017 and Yolo Family Farms received a license in 2018. Woodland Roots and Yolo Family Farms each currently hold a valid State cultivation license and County cultivation license, which allow up to one acre of canopy each, with self-propagation and self-processing. Cannabis storage and processing are performed indoors, inside one 9,000 sf metal building. The colocated businesses operating at the site currently use the existing parking areas, two fenced outdoor cannabis cultivation areas, propagation greenhouse, self-processing/storage warehouse, office/employee area, shade structure, both the domestic and agricultural wells, and separate storage containers for chemicals, supplies, and cannabis product.

Both Woodland Roots and Yolo Family Farms typically engage in year-round cultivation, with the planting phase generally beginning around March and the harvesting phases ending around June, August, and October. On-site equipment such as tractors, hand tools, and sprayers are used throughout each season by authorized and trained members of the staff as well as certain field personnel provided by various local farm labor contractors. Depending on the time of year, the businesses operate with up to five full- and part-time employees and up to 40 seasonal farm laborers. The businesses encourage all laborers to carpool with a resulting daily vehicle count of between five and 10 during non-harvest operations.

The proposed project would include the addition of one acre of outdoor cannabis cultivation for each business, resulting in a total of four acres of canopy on the site. The applicant proposes to expand the outdoor cultivation areas to the west and south of the existing cultivation areas. While new structures are not proposed, the project may require expanded fencing, extension of water lines, and modification and upgrades to the alarm and surveillance system. The existing business premises will maintain adequate utilities, access roads, drainage, and sanitation infrastructure in line with County and State regulations, standards, and specifications, and does not anticipate further utility work.

Woodland Roots and Yolo Family Farms also are requesting a processing license and a distribution license for regional-serving purposes. Full processing would involve all the various activities associated with the drying, curing, grading, trimming, rolling, storing, packaging, and labeling of cannabis or non-manufactured cannabis products grown on-site as well as for other licensed cannabis facilities. A distributor license would allow for the procurement, rolling, packaging, labeling, storage, sale, and transport of cannabis and cannabis products between the site and other licensed facilities. Within one to two years, the operators plan to also incorporate some level of mixed-light cultivation within the existing canopy area using hoop houses and/or limited use greenhouses and basic light deprivation techniques. Crops would continue to be fed by the existing agricultural well, which has back-flow protection and is permitted with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The operators would also make use of two existing septic systems: one for the office and the other for the warehouse.

If the requested additional licenses are granted, the businesses would be able to expand to the desired footprint, which would be expected to increase the number of employees by five additional full-time employees and 10 additional seasonal farm laborers. With the expansion, the businesses would potentially maintain a combined total of approximately 10 full-time individuals supported by up to 50 seasonal farm laborers. The numbers of employees are estimates and would largely depend on the ability of the businesses to scale up their operations.

The businesses would continue to encourage all laborers to carpool, with a resulting daily vehicle count of between five and ten. If a distribution license is approved, Woodland Roots and Yolo Family Farms would expect anywhere between 15 to 30 product shipments and deliveries and approximately one to two deliveries of supplies per week.

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 property designated as Agriculture (AG) in the Countywide General Plan. Cannabis cultivation, cannabis processing, and cannabis distribution uses 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 a 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 Intensive (A-N). Pursuant to Article 3, of Chapter 2, of Title 8 of the Yolo County Code, cannabis cultivation, processing, and distribution uses are allowed in the A-N zone upon issuance of a Cannabis Use Permit. The project meets the development requirements and setbacks prescribed for the A-N 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 the first July in the year after permit issuance documenting compliance with the Cannabis Use Permit requirements.

Project Design and Operation
As described above, the project does not propose the construction of new structures. 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 existing 9,000 sf building will house the proposed regional processing and distribution uses. The project is conditioned to require the use of LED lighting or equivalent or more efficient technology. Indoor lighting is required to be fully controlled so that minimal or no light escapes and the greenhouse used for propagation is equipped with curtains to control nighttime glow. Outdoor lighting is required to be full cut-off, shielded, and downward facing so it does not spill over onto other properties, structures, or the night sky.

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 or carbon filtration systems for the 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 north-northwest and south-southeast, parallel with the Capay Hills.      

The project relies on groundwater from an onsite agricultural well (for cultivation) and onsite domestic well (for non-cultivation uses). The applicant estimates that approximately 4-acre feet of water per year would be used upon expansion of the project to a total of four acres of canopy. The CLUO EIR analyzed groundwater that would be used for cannabis crops and compared that to average 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 processing and distribution, are permitted in agricultural zones with a Cannabis Use Permit. The operators have been cultivating cannabis on an annual basis under validly-issued county and state licenses since 2017. The project site is located in an agriculturally zoned area and is surrounded by land in agricultural production to the west, south, and east, and by Cache Creek and a permitted surface mining operation to the north. The outdoor cultivation areas are fenced and screened from public view along County Road 87, and the project is conditioned to maintain the fence in good repair. The operators have 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 operators also are 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 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 uses are two agricultural homesites each approximately 1,300 feet from the existing outdoor cultivation areas (one home to the south and one home to the east). Upon expansion of the outdoor cultivation, the distance between the home to the south and the outdoor cultivation will be approximately 1,000 feet. The expansion of the outdoor cultivation areas will not encroach closer to the home to the east. There is no buffer requirement from existing indoor cannabis uses to sensitive land uses for Existing Licenses located outside the Capay Valley (Woodland Roots and Yolo Family Farms are considered Existing Licensees). The existing indoor cannabis uses are approximately 1,200 feet from the home to the east and 1,600 feet from the home to the south. No new buildings are proposed as part of this project.

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 outdoor cultivation fence line is approximately 50 feet from the dry bed (upper terrace) of Cache Creek and approximately 300 feet from the channel. The closest existing building used for cannabis operations (9,000 sf metal building) is approximately 350 feet from the dry bed (upper terrace) of Cache Creek. The project is in compliance with this requirement as no new buildings or structures are proposed.

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, that no additional environmental review is required.

SUMMARY OF PUBLIC CORRESPONDENCE
A Request for Comments was distributed to reviewing agencies on February 22, 2023. Comments received from reviewing agencies were incorporated into the Conditions of Approval (Attachment F) where applicable. A Courtesy Notice was also distributed on February 22, 2023, 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 included the two homes within 1,300 feet of the outdoor cultivation area. 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 offensive smell, trash, increased traffic and risk of criminal activity, and also asked for further clarification on other operational components (Attachment F). The operators have been made aware of the concerns raised in the comment letter. Although odor may continue to exist, as discussed in the Analysis section of this staff report, the operators are responsible for implementing control methods to reduce the likelihood that odors rise to the level of a persistent nuisance. The remaining concerns addressed in the neighbor comment letter can be alleviated to the greatest extent possible by operational and site maintenance and security measures as required in the Conditions of Approval. No other comment letters from the public were received.

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation ("Tribe") submitted a comment letter suggesting that the project application is incomplete as to issues regarding the cultivation process and transportation/traffic impacts and does not provide information sufficient to apply relevant statutory and regulatory criteria, and that the County is misguided to assume the project is covered under the CLUO EIR (Attachment F). Staff acknowledged receipt of the Tribe's letter but does not concur with the statements made by the Tribe.

The project was presented to the Esparto Citizens Advisory Committee on September 19, 2023. The meeting was attended by staff, applicant, property owner, and several members of the community. The committee and members of the community discussed concerns and raised questions about the Woodland Roots/Yolo Family Farms project and the cumulative impact of cannabis operations in the Esparto area in general, including the concentration of existing licensed cultivation sites, potential for criminal activity, odor, and noise from fans and equipment, water usage, and security measures. The committee recommended approval of the project based on the applicant’s compliance with the CLUO (Ayes: 4; Noes: 1).  

A public hearing notice was mailed to property owners within 1,000 feet of the project site on October 20, 2023, and published in the Davis Enterprise on October 22, 2023.

Staff consulted with Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, Building Division, Public Works Division, Environmental Health Division, various agencies and interested parties, and has received input from the Office of County Counsel.

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