Planning commission recommends creation of Rocktree cannabis prohibition district to protect streams and valley character

The Mendocino County Planning Commission on Feb. 20 recommended that the Board of Supervisors establish a commercial cannabis prohibition combining district to bar future commercial cannabis activities on 18 contiguous parcels in the Rocktree neighborhood (commonly referred to in the record as Rocktree Valley). The commission voted to find the project exempt from CEQA and to forward the rezone for Board action.

Shelby Miller of the Planning and Building Department told the commission the applicant seeks to establish a county code chapter 20.119 CP district that would prohibit cultivation, processing, manufacturing, testing labs, retail distribution and microbusiness operations in the proposed area. "The intention of the Mendocino County chapter 20.119, Commercial Cannabis Prohibition District ... allows the county to designate specific areas to prohibit cultivation, processing, manufacturing, testing labs, retail distribution, and micro business operations," Miller said in her presentation.

The proposed district includes 18 legally contiguous parcels covering about 892 acres located roughly 3.5 miles…