Santa Barbara supervisors hold Carpinteria forum on cannabis odor, near-term vote expected on carbon scrubbers

Chair Laura Capps called a special meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on March 14 in Carpinteria to hear residents, growers and engineers about cannabis-related odors, measurement methods and technology options. The session was a public forum rather than a decision meeting; supervisors Hartman and LaVonino were recorded as absent.

The discussion focused on three related issues the board plans to act on at an upcoming board hearing: how to set an odor threshold (measured as D/T, dilution-to-threshold), which monitoring technology to use (portable "Nasal Ranger" devices versus lab-based gas chromatography or continuous vent monitoring), and a proposed requirement that commercial cannabis operations install multi-technology carbon filtration (carbon scrubbers) and phase out vapor-phase/misting systems.

The hearing opened with a reminder from Chair Laura Capps that the forum was limited to Carpinteria odor concerns and would not include formal votes. Capps said the matter is largely settled in one respect: "there has been a new consensus ... a five vote ... to direct staff to come back and to direct the planning commission on a new requirement for mandatory multi-technology carbon filtration." She said the board would revisit remaining ordinance details at a scheduled board meeting on Tuesday.

Planning staffer Aaron Bridal explained the primary measurement term: "D over T is dilution to threshold," describing how a Nasal Ranger device dilutes an air sample in set steps (the device's…