Lake County supervisors review package of cannabis policy recommendations; staff to draft ordinance

Community Development Director Maria Turner told the Board of Supervisors on the cannabis ordinance update that staff will compile the task force and Planning Commission recommendations and begin drafting a proposed county ordinance, with a goal to return a vetted draft to the board by the end of the calendar year.

The update summarized recommendations from two recent cannabis ordinance task force meetings and Planning Commission input on operational hours and delivery windows, voluntary termination of use permits, hydrology requirements, canopy measurement alignment with state rules, setbacks between hemp and cannabis, and possible changes to site-reclamation bond levels.

Turner said the task force generally favored aligning local rules with state regulations where possible, including records retention and business operational hours, and recommended limiting scheduled deliveries to daytime hours. “The goal for today’s meeting … is that the board wanted us to come back to you with all of the recommendations, so that you could have your final input before we start writing the draft ordinance,” Turner said.

Staff recommended adding a voluntary surrender process so a cannabis use permit could be canceled before expiration; currently the county’s use permits “go with the land” unless revoked or they expire (cannabis use permits were noted as having a 10-year term). The department also proposed syncing the county’s ownership identification requirements with the state application to help the Treasurer–Tax Collector identify the responsible licensee for tax purposes.

On water and hydrology, Turner told the board that the…