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Commission approves Empress Farms special permits with supplemental water‑use conditions
Summary
Planning staff added supplemental conditions responding to neighbor water‑use concerns; the commission accepted the conditions and approved Empress Farms' special permits, zoning clearance and conditional use permit with the added limits and metering timeline.
The commission approved special permits and a conditional use permit for Empress Farms after staff added supplemental conditions to address a neighbor’s concerns about water use.
Planning staff said the cultivation proposal relies primarily on a rainwater catchment pond and that the supplemental conditions limit the cultivation footprint until the applicant expands catchment capacity to ensure operations could be supported in drought conditions. Staff also revised a metering timeline so irrigation metering is required by 2026 rather than awaiting possible later manufacturing activity, and they removed any use of an on‑site well as backup irrigation for the cultivation footprint covered by the permit.
Commissioners moved to accept staff recommendations and voted in favor. The commission emphasized that supplemental conditions were developed in response to public concern and that code enforcement had been engaged to ensure compliance where needed.
