As you all know, the Supes recently voted to illegally expand weed cultivation sites beyond the Ordinance’ s 10,000 square-foot cap. The effect of this new “re-interpretation” is that it would double the existing cultivation area, bumping the area up to 20,000 square feet. Such changes can only be accomplished by the Supes taking formal action at a public meeting.
Supervisors John Haschak and Madeline Cline opposed this action that was whole-heartedly supported by colleagues Ted Williams, Mo Mulheren, and Bernie Norvell.
At that meeting, I urged the Board to reject this “backdoor” attempt to circumvent an unambiguous provision in the Ordinance. There is absolutely no authority under existing law or the Mendocino County Cannabis Ordinance for anyone, including County staff, administrators, or the Supervisors to “reinterpret”, in whole or in part, provisions of the Cannabis Ordinance. It’s widely accepted by constituents that such action gives the appearance of Cannabis Ordinance administration being an insider’s game played by staff and a self-selected few in the local cannabis industry.
The good news is Ellen Drell, of the Willits Environmental Center (WEC), informed me that her organization has filed suit against the County for their illegal action.
On Friday, April 18, 2025, the Willits Environmental Center (WEC) filed a Petition with the County Superior Court challenging the action taken by the Board of Supervisors at their regular meeting on April 8th, 2025. In a 3 to 2 vote (Supervisors Haschak and Cline dissenting) the Board of Supervisors approved a reinterpretation of the County’s cannabis cultivation ordinance, brought to the Board by the Cannabis Department staff, that would result in doubling the area of cannabis cultivation allowed on most cultivation-eligible parcels in the County, including up to 20,000 square feet of mature cannabis for sale. WEC alleges, “the Board’s April 8th, 2025 vote to accept staff’s reinterpretation unlawfully turns seven years of understanding and implementation of the cannabis ordinance on its head.”
WEC urges the Board of Supervisors to direct the Cannabis Department to abandon the Department’s unsolicited, and what WEC believes to be an unsubstantiated, reinterpretation of County law. WEC is joined by several community groups including the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Committee (LAMAC) and the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Committee (RVMAC), concerned individuals, and newspaper editors in denouncing this reinterpretation and the unlawful means by which county law has been changed.
WEC believes this reinterpretation is wrong and is directly contradicted by the County’s own prior interpretation of the ordinance since its enactment in 2017.
Drell alleges that allowing the area of cannabis cultivation to double on eligible parcels throughout the County has the potential to impact neighborhoods, and cause harm to natural resources such as surface and ground water, sensitive species habitat, and aesthetics. But of equal importance to the WEC, according to Drell, is that this significant change to an existing law is being implemented without public engagement or environmental review. “This is an extremely dangerous precedent and must not be allowed to go forward. Otherwise, the rule of law becomes arbitrary, is taken away from the citizenry, and is placed in the hands of back-room dealers”, said Drell.
I’ll keep you apprised of any developments in this matter.
One wonders if the WEC legal suit will be handled by the County Counsel, or another outside private law firm will be brought in to meet the challenge. At further expense to the taxpayers. Precedent in such matters is not encouraging.
Perhaps the threat alone will be enough to roll this one back.
Ellen Drell is obsessed. This decision will affect like 5 acres in the whole county. I really wish they would move on to actual issues instead of costing everybody money over something that will have an environmental impact of very close to zero.