Tulare County supervisors move to impose immediate fines for unlicensed cannabis and update local speed zones

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors on Monday introduced two ordinances — one to permit immediate administrative fines for unlicensed cannabis operations and another to revise multiple county speed zones — and set both for adoption on Jan. 28, 2025. Both measures passed the board’s introduction vote unanimously, 5-0.

The cannabis ordinance amendment would change section 1-23-1015 of the Tulare County ordinance code to allow the county to impose administrative fines immediately for unlicensed cannabis activity. Aaron Bach, assistant director with the Resource Management Agency, told the board the change is intended to “secure quick compliance with local cannabis regulations, and reduce the frequency of unauthorized cannabis operations.” Bach said the first administrative fine would be $1,000. He also relayed an agency estimate of potential revenue, which he described in the meeting as “upwards of over $2,000,000,000,” but acknowledged that calculation was “a little exuberant.”

Bach described coordinated enforcement with the sheriff’s office and code enforcement staff, saying staff had identified roughly 100 properties that could be inspected once the…