County staff recommends approval of outdoor cannabis microbusiness CUP with conditions; neighbors voice water, odor and theft concerns

Santa Fe County staff told Hearing Officer Abare they recommend approval of a conditional use permit (CUP) for HDH Farms LLC to cultivate cannabis outdoors on a 15.247‑acre parcel at 18 Loma Lane, subject to conditions and compliance with state licensing and county recording requirements.

Maggie Valdez, development review specialist senior, summarized the application and staff review. The applicant, HDH Farms LLC (property owner Dylan Steelman), requested a CUP to allow an approximately 80,000‑square‑foot grow area to cultivate cannabis flowers outdoors and to operate as a cannabis producer microbusiness under New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD) rules that limit a microbusiness to no more than 200 mature plants on a single licensed premises. Valdez said staff found the use compatible with the zoning and consistent with applicable SLDC design standards, and referenced review comments from the State Historic Preservation Office and county staff. Staff recommended approval subject to conditions including recording the site plan, obtaining a Santa Fe County business license, and complying with RLD requirements for handling unusable cannabis waste.

The applicant, Dylan Steelman, testified he lives on the property year‑round and that most cultivation activity would take place April through November, with an active growing season roughly May through October. Steelman said he and two family members would operate the site and the product would be transported off‑site to a licensed production facility; the site would not be open to the public.

Steelman told the hearing officer he obtains hauled commercial water through Santa Fe County (not irrigation water) and estimated annual water use closer to the larger figure staff mentioned in the record (the hearing record included two inconsistent water figures that staff and the applicant discussed). County staff clarified the water estimate as approximately 1.3 acre‑feet per year during the hearing. The applicant said cultivation had previously taken place on the parcel as hemp and that theft had occurred during earlier hemp plantings; he said current cultivation uses locked, fenced enclosures and downward‑shielded, motion‑activated lighting to limit night‑sky impacts.

Neighbors spoke in opposition. Ricardo Barrera said odor, lights, and security concerns have affected the neighborhood since cultivation began on the property in 2024; he and other neighbors said overnight trespass, theft and incidents of gunfire have occurred when people attempted to take plants. Barrera also raised concerns about water availability for livestock and trees on nearby properties. A letter from a nearby agricultural school was read at the hearing expressing concern about the proximity of the cultivation site to school agricultural operations and public‑safety impacts; the letter asserted the school is within about 200 yards of the site, language that county staff and the applicant discussed at the hearing.

Steelman said the cultivation area is enclosed within a 6‑foot fence with privacy screening, that there is no razor wire, that gates are locked, and that security lighting is motion‑activated and downward‑shielded. He said the pond on the neighbor’s property predates his ownership and serves as a sand trap for the irrigation ditch, and that he does not use irrigation ditch water for cultivation.

The hearing officer said she would prepare a written recommended order within 15 business days. Staff noted the approved CUP would require the recorded site plan and compliance with RLD licensing and other conditions.