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Trinity County moves to treat commercial cannabis as agriculture; board directs community-specific zoning work
Summary
After two days of public workshops on the 2050 general plan update, Trinity County supervisors and planning commissioners agreed to fold commercial cannabis into the county's agricultural policies and pursue community-specific zoning standards, with further public workshops and a coordinated EIR scheduled as next steps.
Trinity County supervisors and the county planning commission confirmed a shift in how the county will treat commercial cannabis for the 2050 general plan update, directing staff to fold commercial cannabis into agricultural policy and pursue community-specific zoning standards.
The change, discussed across multiple community plan workshops June 11, follows a debate over whether cannabis should remain a separate land-use category. Participants repeatedly called for clarity and consistency. “We now have come to the conclusion after a long time that agriculture does include cannabis,” said Supervisor Hadi (role: Supervisor), summarizing the board's direction from an earlier session. The board asked staff to remove wording that singled out cannabis from agricultural uses in future drafts while still allowing communities to highlight cannabis in local vision statements where the community requests it.
Why it matters: The county's decision to classify commercial cannabis as agriculture affects how properties may be zoned, which permits are required and how later environmental review is conducted. Several communities told planners they want continued local say in how cannabis is regulated; the board's direction preserves that local control by tying more detailed regulations to community-level zoning work.
What the board directed: Planning staff and consultants will: - Treat commercial cannabis as an agricultural crop in the countywide general plan language. - Hold a second round of community workshops focused on community-specific zoning standards (the board called this the implementation of Option 3 discussed during the workshops). - Incorporate feedback from those community zoning workshops into the draft zoning ordinance and proceed with environmental review (EIR) once the community-designation questions are resolved.
Community reaction: Speakers at the meeting were divided; several cannabis growers and supporters said the change recognizes long-standing local economies and removes stigma. Resident and grower Matt Jefferson said, “Our community supports legal cannabis growers,” and asked the county to avoid new restrictions that would harm established businesses. Other speakers urged careful drafting so that zoning and performance standards do not inadvertently restrict legitimate agricultural operations.
Next steps: Staff and the consultant team will revise the draft community plans and prepare zoning-code drafts for additional planning-commission review. The county will schedule the second round of community workshops, then move to a scoping phase for the EIR. The board emphasized the zoning code will hold the performance standards, setbacks and permit requirements; those details will be crafted and reviewed in the coming months.
The board's instruction preserves the countywide policy change while giving each community its own opportunity to shape how agricultural and cannabis uses are implemented locally.
