The Coming Crackdown on Greenhouse Cannabis

County Supervisors Vow to Get Rid of the Smell of Pot by Tightening Odor-Control Regs Across the Carpinteria Valley

In a dramatic course correction on Tuesday, the new county Board of Supervisors set in motion a requirement for the use of state-of-the-art odor-control technology at each of the cannabis greenhouses of the Carpinteria Valley, a mecca for the industry ever since the county opened the gates to a “Green Rush” in 2018.

Over the years, as the local cut-flower industry largely converted to cannabis, residents filed more than 3,900 complaints with the county about the “skunky” smell of pot. Yet there has been zero enforcement of the complaints: It’s impossible to determine which greenhouse is to blame for the “hot spots” where the smell persists.

On Tuesday, the board unanimously approved a proposal introduced by Board Chair Laura Capps of Goleta and Supervisor Bob Nelson of Orcutt in a bid to finally solve the problem. It would amend the county’s cannabis ordinance to require the installation of advanced carbon filtration units, commonly known as “scrubbers” — or some “equivalent effective technology” — inside each of the 29 greenhouse operations approved by the county, just outside the limits of the City of Carpinteria.

“The culture of leniency is shifting,” Capps said after the hearing. She told her colleagues: “The time is right: We know what works. The complaint system hasn’t worked. Folks are fed up…. We can move forward to a new chapter.”

Under the board’s proposal, the growers would have 12 months to install scrubbers, unless they applied for an extension because of time-consuming electrical upgrades or other “legitimate challenges.” A failure to comply would result in the revocation of their county business licenses. As of last fall, county reports show, only six of 20 active cannabis greenhouse operations in the valley were using scrubbers.

As proposed, the growers also would be required to shut down the “misting” systems that they currently use to mask the pungent smell of pot. These systems set up a curtain of perfumed mist through perforated pipes on the greenhouse roofs, where the smell escapes through vents into the outside air. Many residents have complained that the “laundromat” smell of the mist is just as bad as the smell of pot.

“The Carpinteria Valley was the ground zero for the policies about cannabis,” said Roy Lee, the newly sworn-in former Carpinteria councilmember who last year narrowly beat Das Williams, a co-architect of the cannabis ordinance, in the First Supervisorial District. “I’m glad we’re taking the first steps of many to address this. There’s going to be a lot of happy people in Carp today.”

Fast-Tracking the Hearings

“The culture of leniency is shifting” on cannabis, says Laura Capps, the new board chair. | Credit: Carl Perry.

The board directed the county CEO’s office to draw up the proposed ordinance amendments; and the county Planning Commission is set to review them on January 29 and February 19. They would apply countywide, but the impact would be chiefly felt in the Carpinteria Valley: there is only one greenhouse operation in the North County, where outdoor cannabis has taken hold in open fields and hoop houses. It is Alamos Farm, 17 acres of cannabis greenhouses at 9676 Harvest Road in Los Alamos.

At the upcoming hearings on cannabis odor, the Planning Commission also will fine-tune a county Planning Department proposal to test for the smell of cannabis at greenhouse property lines if the neighbors complain.

The ordinance amendments could return to the board for a vote as soon as March 25. If approved, the requirement for scrubbers would go into effect 30 days later. The state Coastal Commission would have the final say on enforcement measures at the greenhouse property lines.

“We don’t want to take months,” Capps said. She and Nelson told their colleagues that they had been working on the proposal ever since a voluntary odor-control agreement between the growers and a citizens’ group fell through in 2023 and “the optimism seemed to disappear.” Had the pact worked, Capps said, “We wouldn’t be here today.”

“Oversaturated Industry”

Since 2018, overriding dozens of appeals by residents, the county has approved zoning permits for nearly 150 acres of cannabis greenhouses in the Carpinteria Valley. (Under the ordinance, the acreage is capped at 186 acres.)

This week, the City of Carpinteria and a number of residents wrote in to the board to voice their support for a requirement for scrubbers across-the-board. Some residents objected to any extensions of the 12-month deadline.

“We have been speaking about this problem for seven years,” said Merrily Peebles, a resident of La Mirada Drive, during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s board hearing. “Seven years is a very long discussion and a long time to live in air pollution.”

The growers, Peebles told the board, have had seven years to “take seriously” the need to address the odor of cannabis from their operations. Instead, she said, “They’ve disregarded complaints, made excuses and generally ignored the health of the community.”

“This oversaturated industry has left an unfavorable connotation on Carpinteria,” Peebles added. “I’m hopeful this board will tighten the regulations as planned so Carpinteria can get back on track as a viable, happy community.”

Valerie Bentz, a valley resident who lives near Foothill and Casitas Pass Roads, said she and her husband had suffered from severe allergies ever since the cannabis industry moved into the valley. But they had stopped filing complaints, she said, “because it seemed so futile.”

“I am so, so relieved that finally the supervisors are moving forward on some mitigation,” Bentz said.

City officials and some residents, including Bentz, urged the board to establish a rule banning the smell of cannabis beyond the property lines of cannabis greenhouses. In addition, the city asked the board to establish a “proactive enforcement approach” in place of the complaint-based system, ensuring that greenhouses would be monitored at various times of day, including in the early morning and late evening when the smell tend to be more prevalent.