FILE # 2022-0084: Conquest Marketing Group Cannabis Use Permit
APPLICANT: Tranell Sevier Conquest Marketing Group 1296 E. Gibson Road #A347 Woodland, CA 95776	OWNER: TR Property Group 2121 Natomas Crossing Drive #200-206 Sacramento, CA 95834
LOCATION: 32484 County Road 24, Woodland, CA 95695 (APN: 025-460-003) GENERAL PLAN: Agriculture (AG) ZONING: Agricultural Intensive (A-N) SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT: 3 (Supervisor Vixie Sandy) PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE: 10/20/2023 (published in Davis Enterprise on 10/22/2023)	SOILS: Sycamore complex, drained (Class II); Myers clay (Class II) FMMP: Prime Farmland WILLIAMSON ACT: No FLOOD ZONE: A FIRE SEVERITY ZONE: Non-Wildland/Non-Urban
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: Cannabis Land Use Ordinance Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 2018082055) certified September 14, 2021 (Resolution 21-111)

That the Planning Commission: 

1. Receive a staff presentation, hold a public hearing, and receive comments on the Conquest Marketing Group Cannabis Use Permit;

2. Determine the project is consistent with the Cannabis Land Use Ordinance Environmental Impact Report (SCH #2018082055), certified by the Board of Supervisors on September 14, 2021 (Resolution 21-111), and determine that no further environmental review is needed pursuant to Sections 15168(c), 15162, and 15183 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, and approve the Finding of CEQA Compliance (Attachment E);

3. Adopt the Findings (Attachment D) in support of approval of the project;

4. Approve the Cannabis Use Permit subject to, and as modified by, the Conditions of Approval (Attachment E); and

5. Authorize the project applicant to apply for license issuance of a cannabis cultivation license and self-distribution license.

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 and self-distribution uses. The allowance of up to two acres of canopy for Conquest Marketing Group (Conquest) will provide additional business opportunity for the operator to continue to compete in the regulated cannabis industry. The issuance of the self-distribution license will contribute to cost savings and vehicle trip reductions by allowing the operator to distribute products grown and processed on their own site instead of relying on outside distribution services. 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 12.5-acre agriculturally zoned parcel, which was previously planted in row crops prior to the commencement of cannabis related uses in 2017. Conquest currently cultivates one acre of outdoor cannabis canopy and has intermittently cultivated cannabis under validly-issued county and state licenses beginning in 2017. Conquest cultivated cannabis during the 2017-2018 license cycle, but did not cultivate again until the 2022-2023 license cycle. The property contains one non-cannabis related manufactured residence, constructed in 2022, at the south end of the property, adjacent to CR 24. The property is served by an existing onsite agricultural well, domestic well and septic system. Access to the property is directly from CR 24, with internal dirt access roads leading to the outdoor cultivation site.

The proposed project would include an additional one acre of cannabis cultivation canopy, for a total of two acres of canopy. The development and operation of the site is proposed in two phases. Phase 1 would include outdoor cultivation of up to two acres of canopy and the construction and operation of a 2,400-sf processing building for drying, trimming, and storage (only product grown on-site can be processed in the proposed processing building). Outdoor cultivation would occur within an approximately 62,500-sf area. Phase 2 is proposed to be initiated two to five years after a Cannabis Use Permit is obtained. Phase 2 includes approximately 105,000 sf of greenhouses (35 greenhouses), a 560-sf security office, a 320-sf fresh/frozen product storage building, a 350-sf container to store hazardous materials, and other ancillary small structures. Cannabis waste would be composted on-site and/or disposed of in compliance with county and state regulations. The self-distribution license would allow Conquest to transport only the goods they cultivate to off-site manufacturing or distribution premises. 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 full cut-off, shielded, and downward facing to prevent spill over onto other properties, structures, or the night sky. Any future greenhouses, as proposed in Phase 2, would be equipped with internal blackout curtains or other mechanism to prevent nighttime light escape.

Conquest typically engages in seasonal cultivation for outdoor cultivation, with the planting generally beginning around May and the harvesting phases ending around October. In Phase 2 of the project, cultivation will occur within greenhouses and is anticipated that each greenhouse will have three growing cycles, each about 75 days, and will be staggered in order to manage harvest and processing resources. Conquest employs three full-time employees on site, and approximately nine part-time employees during the harvest periods, typically three times per year, depending on the plant growth cycles.  Additional employees are not anticipated as a result of the proposed project. Vehicular traffic to the site is expected to be minimal, with approximately ten employee vehicle trips per day and one delivery per day. The operator will continue to encourage all laborers to carpool.

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 uses, which include activities involving the planting, growing, harvesting, drying, curing, grading, storing, and trimming of cannabis grown onsite, 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:
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 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. The operator is 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 involves the expansion of cannabis cultivation canopy from one acre to two acres, with outdoor cultivation in Phase 1 and indoor cultivation in greenhouses in Phase 2. 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 project is also 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. The processing building and the greenhouses will be equipped with recirculating type carbon filters to filter air prior to venting. If odor nuisances are verified pursuant to the enforcement procedure set forth in the CLUO, the operator may employ active controls, such as odor neutralizers for the outdoor canopy, as well as passive controls such as additional vegetation barriers or different plant strains to minimize the potential for nuisances. The odor control plan identified that the annual prevailing wind in the project area is from the southwest with a secondary component from the north.

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 would be used upon expansion of the project to a total of two 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 operator has been cultivating cannabis on an intermittent basis under validly-issued county and state licenses since 2017. The project site is located in an agriculturally zoned area and is surrounded by large parcels that are all in agricultural production (olive orchard to the west- 131 acres, alfalfa to the north- 119 acres, almonds to the east 183-acres, and cattle grazing to the south- 698 acres). South Fork Willow Slough transects the northern border of the property (the outdoor cultivation area is approximately 75 feet south of the slough). The 12.5-acre project site is triangular shaped, and the western and southern perimeter of the property visible from County Road 24 is fenced with a seven-foot tall wood fence painted in a shade of gray. The northern portion of the property (south of South Fork Willow Slough), which is not visible from County Road 24, is fenced with wire fence with green cloth. The project is conditioned to maintain the fencing in good repair.

The operator 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 operator also is 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 outside the Capay Valley, 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 0.5 mile (2,640 feet) from the northern project site boundary (both of which were provided notice of the proposed project). The buffer requirement from indoor cannabis from sensitive land uses is 100 feet. Therefore, the buffers from the proposed processing building in Phase 1 and greenhouses in Phase 2 will meet the buffers prescribed in the CLUO. Building setbacks for new structures shown in the site plan (Attachment B) meet the setback requirements for new structures in the A-N zone and will be reviewed upon submission of building permit(s).

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. South Fork Willow Slough transects the northern border of the property.  The project is conditioned to require new construction to be setback 100 feet from the slough.

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 E) 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 April 3, 2023. Comments received from reviewing agencies were incorporated into the Conditions of Approval (Attachment E) where applicable. A Courtesy Notice was also distributed on April 3, 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. The Courtesy Notice summarized the existing and proposed operations as provided in the application materials. The project site is located at the easternmost boundary of the Madison Advisory Committee area, approximately 3.25 miles from the town of Madison; however, the Madison Advisory Committee is not an active committee due to lack of membership. The Courtesy Notice was sent to the two committee members on record. No public comments were received throughout the application review process.

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation (“Tribe”) submitted a comment letter 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.

A public hearing notice was mailed to property owners within 1,000 feet 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.