June 3, 2021 — The Board of Supervisors is holding a special meeting today to decide on a new cannabis cultivation ordinance, which some are calling Phase III and others are referring to as 2218, after the new chapter that will enter the county code if the supervisors pass the proposed ordinance. The current ordinance, 10A17, was crafted before the state developed its own regulations. The two systems are not compatible, and the current environmental mitigations were developed specifically for the now misfit ordinance. Endless negotiations between the county and state agencies have taken place.
Meanwhile, many applicants for the early 10A17 program have languished. Quite a few of them don’t even have the permit that would bring them one step closer to the state annual license they’ll need to be legal by the end of the year. At an informational meeting last night, Mendocino County cannabis program manager Kristin Nevedal provided the numbers of how many applicants there are, and what it took to issue three more permits.