Planners to consider new hemp ban
Provision under consideration to allow for educational research
The Humboldt County Planning Commission will consider a permanent ban on industrial hemp cultivation in the county today.
The proposed ordinance before the commission would replace the temporary moratorium currently in place and permanently ban the cultivation of industrial hemp in Humboldt County. If passed, the new regulations would apply throughout the unincorporated areas of Humboldt County, including the Coastal Zone.
The proposed ordinance includes an educational allowance for the College of the Redwoods campus on Tompkins Hill Road.
“This exception responds to communications between the county’s agriculture commissioner Jeff Dolf and (College of the Redwoods) officials in November 2020 when they indicated they may pursue a future addition to their curriculum focused on cultivation of industrial hemp,” according to the staff report.
If the commission were to allow the exemption, both College of the Redwoods and Humboldt State University would be able to grow industrial hemp for research and educational purposes on any property they own in the unincorporated areas of the county.
However, the staff report notes, “Given the public comment in opposition to industrial hemp cultivation expressed at previous Planning Commission and Board of Supervisor meetings, staff does not support this alternative because it could put at risk permitted cannabis cultivation sites in the vicinity of any property acquired or leased by these institutions in the future.”
Staff recommends the commission do away with the allowance if “compelling public testimony” argues that the exemption poses too high of a “risk to the commercial cannabis industry in the vicinity of the College of the Redwoods campus.”
The staff report also notes that the proposed project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.
“Adoption of the Coastal Industrial Hemp Ordinance is statutorily exempt from Ceqa…because CEQA does not apply to the activities of a local government for the preparation and adoption of a Local Coastal Program…
The portion of the Industrial Hemp Ordinance that affects land use within the coastal zone must be certified or otherwise approved by the Coastal Commission prior to taking effect,” the staff report said.
An extension to the temporary moratorium on industrial hemp cultivation was reestablished by the Board of Supervisors during its Dec. 8, 2020 meeting and is set to expire on May 10, 2021.
During the meeting, a few supervisors and several in public comment voiced their concern that industrial hemp cultivation could negatively affect commercial cannabis crops.
“There is also a lot of concern around cross-pollination,” said Humboldt County Growers Alliance policy director Ross Gordon during the Dec. 8 meeting. “We’re seeing a lot of unstable genetics with hemp. Those unstable genetics create concerns, as well as the scale of hemp production, about potential cross-pollination and losing the thing we have here that is so unique which is the cannabis industry.”
The Planning Commission will be making recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for final action. The meeting can be viewed through the county’s website at 6 p.m. on Thursday at www.humboldt.legistar.com/calendar.aspx.