County holds first marijuana regulations town hall meeting

Santa Barbara County held its first town hall meeting over regulation medical and recreational marijuana.

It was a packed house Tuesday afternoon as people filled the room expressing their opinion on both sides of the issue.

The odor was the main concern for many residents including longtime Carpinteria resident John Culbertson. “Instead of season crops or flowers we now have year-round marijuana cultivation going on and it’s actually already taking place. The odor is tremendous.”

The Committee is looking to find resolutions while residents and farmers are trying to get their points across.

“The Ag community is powerful,” said Culbertson. “They donate a lot of money and we love them, but in this case, they need to step back and see how it will affect the community.”

Das Williams, Santa Barbara County Supervisor said the committee is looking to find a resolution.

“After today’s public input it’s very likely that any permit will require the grower to use an odor control device,” said Williams.

The State is going to start issuing cannabis license starting January 1st, but the County is pushing that date back.

“We have to do an environmental impact report which takes quite a while,” said Steve Lavagnino, Santa Barbara County Supervisor. “We don’t want to rush into this. We’ve seen what happens to other counties when they rush so we want to take our time and not rush.”