The Ukiah City Council this week approved moving forward with an ordinance to help “preserve and protect agricultural lands” as the city prepares for more potential annexation of land currently in Mendocino County jurisdiction.
“This ordinance would align the city’s zoning standards with select sections of the Mendocino County code, supporting both agricultural preservation and future annexation efforts,” Planning Manager Katherine Schaefers told the council when beginning her presentation at the Feb. 19 meeting.
“This alignment is important because it reduces regulatory confusion for property owners and agricultural operators, while supporting efficient land-use planning and potential future annexations, and ensuring a clear and consistent framework for all Ukiah Valley stakeholders,” Schaefers said, also noting that the ordinance promotes “orderly growth by prioritizing infill, preserving open space and minimizing land-use conflicts.”
The written staff report prepared for the meeting explains that “on Dec. 7, 2022, the City Council adopted the Ukiah 2040 General Plan, which included an Agriculture Element highlighting the importance of collaborative approaches to agricultural resources and the need to align Mendocino County and city policies regarding the preservation of regional working lands. Furthermore, the General Plan recognized that consistency across city and county standards reduces administrative complexity for property owners and operators, creating a shared and efficient regulatory framework.”
In December of 2024, the “Ukiah Planning Commission evaluated the proposed amendments to the Ukiah City Code and unanimously recommended approval to the City Council.” Since then, city staff note that they revised the ordinance to reflect “changes identified by stakeholders — particularly the Mendocino County Farm Bureau — that were discussed with the Planning Commission.
In terms of cannabis cultivation, staff note that the ordinance “anticipates evolving land-use needs by incorporating certain Mendocino County provisions for outdoor commercial cannabis cultivation while maintaining alignment with the city of Ukiah’s discretionary permitting requirements for cannabis businesses. This ensures that discretionary review processes are required for outdoor commercial cannabis cultivation. Although the ordinance primarily focuses on agricultural alignment, it is critical for the city to refine commercial cannabis regulations to ensure compliance with state requirements, given California’s dual regulatory system and evolving regulatory landscape. No other cannabis uses or cultivation standards are to be modified.”
After staff’s presentation, Council member Susan Sher asked for clarification regarding the allowable lot size for cannabis grows, stating that she was “aware of this ongoing controversy in how the county is interpreting the size of cultivation lots: the cannabis regulations say the area of cultivation is a maximum of 10,000 square feet, but then some county staff are interpreting that regulation to double the amount to 20,000 square feet.”
Chief Planning Manager Jessie Davis responded to Sher’s question by noting that the county uses a “ministerial process, meaning that their permits are based on a non-discretionary process, not subject to public review through hearings, it’s just a building permit and a by-right process. We deviate from that standard by requiring that cannabis-related businesses require a use permit, and that will be the same in this instance – it would still require a discretionary review, meaning that the site-specific considerations for that cultivation site are reviewed and discussed in a public forum.”
“So do we have any maximum lot size?” Sher asked, to which Davis responded: “We do not, in part because we’re looking at site-specific criteria that would inform whether or not it was appropriate for cultivation, and those (criteria) vary in terms of the type of cultivation and the lot size. So we don’t apply a specific standard, we apply a discretionary standard that evaluates every application on a case-by-case basis.”
“This is so great,” Council member Mari Rodin said of the ordinance. “That we’re planning ahead to have ag land within city limits; that (we’re stating) we care about ag land, that we want to preserve it, and we’re codifying it in our code – I think it’s pretty unique.”
“This is a solid step forward in realizing and implementing the General Plan, and taking steps to being thoughtful about annexation of agriculture and open space,” Davis said. “And it recognizes our infrastructure assets as well. Recycled water is an increasingly important commodity for agricultural purveyors. And while we do not have agricultural lands in the city presently, we are contemplating them moving forward, and we are prepared to regulate them as an effective practitioner because of our relationships that we’ve developed. Everything we are doing is well-structured to move us forward as a city.”
The council then unanimously approved “the introduction by Title Only of an Ordinance Modifying Ukiah City Code to Preserve and Strengthen Agricultural Uses In and Around Ukiah Consistent with the Ukiah 2040 General Plan.”
(Ukiah Daily Journal)
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