At the Jan. 8 meeting the Community Development Department provided a departmental update on cannabis program activity and staffing. Staff reported that in 2025 the county had 120 active approved cannabis projects; 28 projects had expired for inactivity. Of the total approved canopy (417.95 acres), staff estimated about 156.39 acres were actually cultivated in 2025 after opt-outs and reduced-canopy filings.

Staff also reported 12 hearings were held last year for cannabis projects (some projects required multiple hearings), with four project approvals, three denials and one pending appeal to the Board of Supervisors. There were 13 transfers of cannabis use permits in 2025 and 110 site-inspection compliance visits by planning staff; many inspections generated corrections and follow-up with code enforcement and other agencies.

Finally, staff announced that Senior Planner Laura Hall had resigned and that a new resource planner would start at the end of the month to help address the department's workload.

This update was presented as part of the commission's departmental information items; commissioners asked several follow-up questions about water reporting and trends in opt-outs versus reduced canopy requests.