‘A defacto ban on industrial hemp.’ New SLO County ordinance limits where crop can grow
The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors passed an industrial hemp ordinance May 5 after a year-long moratorium on industrial hemp growing in the county.
The county’s new ordinance places restrictions on where and how industrial hemp may be grown, limiting the potential for hemp farms to very few parcels, according to county Farm Bureau executive director Brent Burchett.
“The supervisors may have different opinions on this, but what they did was a defacto ban on industrial hemp,” Burchett said.
Under the new ordinance, the following guidelines must be followed:
Outdoor industrial hemp cultivation is prohibited in residential rural land use areas.
In order to grow industrial hemp outdoors, farmers must have 400 or more acres.
Outdoor industrial hemp farms must be a mile away from any village or urban reserve lines, and cultivation is not allowed within 2,00 feet from adjacent property lines.
No exceptions can be granted through a minor use permit.
A minimum of five acres is required for indoor industrial hemp cultivation.
Indoor cultivation must be in a fully enclosed greenhouse or permitted building; hoop houses will not be allowed.
Cultivation of industrial hemp transplants is allowed in residential rural land areas. However, indoor flowering industrial hemp is still prohibited in those areas.
The cultivation or processing of industrial hemp within the unincorporated area of Edna Valley, which is known for its wine vineyards, is prohibited.
Burchett said very few agricultural sites in the county meet the requirements listed above.
Prior to the new ordinance, the county Planning Commission drafted a proposed ordinance with the input of the Agricultural Liaison Advisory Board.
The advisory board was made up of local hemp growers, ALAB members, local vineyard and winery representatives and Farm Bureau members, including Burchett.
“No one could agree on every aspect of it, but we were trying to recognize that this is a federally legal agriculture commodity,” Burchett said. “We wanted to make sure that if hemp is going to be a big deal, we want to give our farmers here a chance to grow it.”
Now, he said, that is likely not possible.
“San Luis Obispo County, or at least the supervisors, have decided this is not a crop they want grown here,” Burchett said.
The Planning Commission recommended that outdoor hemp cultivation be set back a minimum of 300 feet from sensitive use area, and a minimum of 300 to 1,000 feet from village and urban reserve lines. The commission presented the option of increasing that distance to a mile, but it was not their primary recommendation.
The commission also recommended a 10-acre minimum, with the option for minor use permits to be granted. The ability to farm non-flowering industrial hemp transplants in residential rural areas was also proposed.
Under the new ordinance, outdoor industrial hemp cultivation farms must be a minimum of 400 acres, be set back 2,000 feet from property lines and a mile from any village or urban reserve lines. Minor use permits and farms in residential rural areas are also prohibited.
As for indoor industrial hemp cultivation, the commission recommended a five-acre minimum, which the board approved. The board also added that hoop houses may not be used.
The industrial hemp ordinance was passed in a 4-to-1 vote, with only District 2 Supervisor Bruce Gibson voting against.
“I think it might be simpler if you simply issued a ban on industrial hemp in this county,” Gibson said. “By going to the extreme parcel sizes and extreme setbacks both from other parcels and and URL and VRLs you have effectively made it impossible to grow hemp.”
He said that the county should allow for a pathway to grow the federally legal crop.
However, some felt the ordinance was the best compromise.
“My goal here is to avoid conflict with our existing agricultural crops,” District 5 Supervisor Debbie Arnold said as her reasoning to propose a wide gap between hemp and other crops.
District 1 Supervisor John Peschong, District 3 Supervisor Adam Hill and board chairwoman and District 4 Supervisor Lynn Compton said they had heard many concerns from their constituents about industrial hemp, specifically the smell.
“Basically, its devastating on our traditional agriculture,” Compton said. “We have a wine and a tourism economy. I don’t want to jeopardize that.”
Hill said that he would support the more restrictive ordinance because his main concern was Edna Valley.
Peschong also said he was concerned about the smell that hemp farms may cause in Edna Valley because of what he experienced from a prior grow in the area.
During the meeting’s public comment, winery and vineyard representatives expressed many concerns about hemp farming near grape vineyards, which draws in tourism and makes up a large part of San Luis Obispo County’s economy.
Many have said the smell of hemp could harm their businesses and even the quality of their crop.
As the director of the Farm Bureau, Burchett said, his goal is to support all forms of agricultural and so he understands some of their concern.
Buchett, whose prior job was to inspect hemp farms, said there are currently no studies showing that hemp can damage wine grapes.
“We’re an evidence-based group, (so) we have to make decisions based on science,” Burchett said. “I think there was a lot of concern that this might impact grapes, but that has not come to fruition yet and if does then we would have to rethink the ordinance.”
