After months of bitterly acrimonious deliberations over cannabis policy — interspersed with frequent personal attacks — the tone and tenor of this week’s Board of Supervisors meeting was jarringly cordial. County Supervisor Peter Adam noted with considerable relief, “I wanted to say how nice this discussion has been.”
It was also unusually productive. In a couple of hours, the supervisors managed to pass a hatful of measures designed to tighten the screws on cannabis cultivation in response to growing backlash against a newly legalized industry. The votes were often unanimous or 4-1.
For starters, the supervisors voted to impose a cap on the total acreage of cultivation that could take place at any one time. That’s a big deal because until this week, Santa Barbara was the only coastal county without such an upper limit. Supervisor Joan Hartmann — who represents the 3rd Supervisorial District and is up for reelection next year — pushed for the cap, arguing it would help relieve much of the collective “anxiety” and would help understaffed county planners handle the avalanche of cannabis related applications — 171 are pending.