Lake County supervisors hear hours of public comment as rewrite of cannabis ordinance advances

LAKEPORT, Calif. — Lake County supervisors on July 8 heard more than two hours of public comment and a lengthy board discussion on staff recommendations to rewrite the county’s cannabis ordinance, with speakers urging a mix of protections for legacy farms, stricter setbacks and clearer hydrology and enforcement rules.

The hearing gathered growers, ranchers, neighborhood residents and nonprofit advocates who addressed topics including expansion of the county’s Farmland Protection Zone (FPZ), proposed setback distances from residences and public lands, whether homeschools should be treated as protected schools for setback purposes, hydrology and water-use reporting, odor and filtration standards for greenhouses, bonding for enforcement, grandfathering of existing operations and the permit term length.

Speakers described divergent local impacts. Jim Comstock and Marshall Comstock, who identified their family’s multi-generation ranch on Grange Road, said cannabis cultivation is a “lifeline” that helps keep their property in agricultural production and warned that FPZ changes could exclude legacy farms. Local cultivators and task force participants, including Jennifer Smith, urged alignment with state policy and cautioned against “eleventh hour” additional exclusion zones such as homeschools. Several others, including residents Bill Wilson and Joni Henderson, said odor and health…