Carpinteria Cannabis Odor Sparks Complaints, Santa Barbara County Supervisors Consider Solutions
CARPINTERIA, Calif. — Santa Barbara County officials are considering a mandate requiring cannabis greenhouse growers to install advanced odor-control technology as complaints over the industry’s “skunky” smell intensify.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on March 18 on whether to require all indoor cannabis growers to install carbon scrubbers or equivalent clean-air technology within 12 months. If approved, growers facing supply chain delays or power upgrade issues could apply for hardship extensions.
The move follows a February recommendation by the county Planning Commission, which called the proposed changes to the county’s cannabis ordinance the most consequential to date. The commission stated that the odor must stop at the property line of cannabis farms.
Currently, 27 cannabis greenhouse operations are permitted in the Carpinteria Valley, with 20 under active cultivation. However, only seven have installed scrubbers. The valley, home to the majority of the county’s cannabis farms, has 138 acres—about 100 football fields’ worth—of permitted cannabis cultivation.
The odor issue has also led to legal action. In a case that could have broad implications for cannabis growers, Superior Court Judge Thomas Anderle has ruled that neighbors within a one-mile radius of Valley Crest Farms, a greenhouse operation in the Carpinteria Valley, can collectively seek damages for the pervasive cannabis smell.
The class action lawsuit, filed in 2023 at the Santa Barbara Courthouse, includes the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis, commercial rosebush farm owners William Hahn and Danielle Dall’Armi, and neighbor Chonnie Bliss Jacobson.
At a special Board of Supervisors meeting Friday, some residents argued the odor must be completely eliminated, citing health issues such as headaches and severe allergies.
“A lot of people have headaches. A lot of people are sick from it. A lot of people have terrible sinus problems,” said one Carpinteria resident who wished to remain anonymous. “We’ve just been gaslighted right and left by the people who grow it.”
However, others warned that excessive regulations could drive growers out of business, impacting local employment.
“If we move forward with an odor threshold that’s not conducive to both the neighborhoods and the growers, then that’s going to put our growers out of business,” said a speaker at the meeting. “Carpinteria is primarily a minority migrant population who work in these farms and who need jobs.”
Growers argue that installing carbon scrubbers is a costly burden for an industry already facing financial challenges.
“Making a push toward carbon scrubbers is a huge change and is drastically expensive,” said Glass House Farms President Graham Farrar. “It is entirely different technology. It’s technology that we pioneered and helped develop, and we support it.”
Others believe scrubbers are a necessary investment, especially considering the legal costs growers have faced.
“Rather than fight litigation with neighbors, which is happening all the time, don’t put money into lawsuits. Put money into solutions,” said Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps. “There’s a lot of consensus around requiring the best kind of technology to reduce odor dramatically—by 80 to 90%.”
The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted in January to explore a mandate for odor-reducing technology. Capps said she is hopeful the board will take final action next Tuesday.
