Activists took opposing sides this month as the county Planning Commission approved zoning permits for a 25,400 square-foot warehouse next to five previously approved cannabis greenhouses at 3561 Foothill Road.
In its petition to the commission, and in support of Trigueiro’s appeal of the warehouse project, Concerned Carpinterians claimed that the county has not been conducting quarterly odor inspections at G&K Farms. The inspections were required as part of Farrar’s greenhouse permit, but county officials say it would be impossible to pinpoint the source of any odors.
But in recent months, Chytilo has angered some members of Concerned Carpinterians by negotiating odor control agreements behind closed doors with cannabis operators, including, most recently, CARP Growers and Farrar.
At the hearing, Parke asked Trigueiro if she knew about the odor control and complaint management agreement that the coalition had negotiated with members of the Van Wingerden family at CVW Organic Farms on Cravens Lane.
Trigueiro was dismissive of such agreements, telling Parke: “I don’t they’re worth the paper they’re written on from an enforceability standpoint, pragmatically.
Concerned Carpinterians recently waged a letters campaign against the nomination of county Supervisor Das Williams, a Carpinteria resident and chief architect of the cannabis ordinance, to the Coastal Commission.
The group also called on the commission to conduct an “ethics inquiry” into a $20,000 donation from CARP Growers to the Foothills Forever fundraising campaign.
The coalition and CARP Growers expect to announce a joint odor control agreement next month, further refining the deal that’s in place for CVW Farms, Chytilo said.
“The county ordinance is so weak, particularly on enforcement, that we have to get something else in place,” said Rob Salomon, a coalition board member.
Referring to Concerned Carpinterians, Salomon said, “We call it negotiating with the growers; they call it collaboration with overtones of evil.
The processing of cannabis – the trimming, drying and packaging of marijuana plants – is the smelliest part of commercial cannabis operations.
At the warehouse, Farrar plans to process cannabis from both G&K Farms and Glass House Farms, a cannabis operation he co-owns at 5601 Casitas Pass Road.
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