Amid the Cannabis Glut,
Growers Are Pulling Out
of Santa Barbara County
North County Operators with Permits for More Than
160 Acres of Pot Walked Away This Month,
as Supervisors Sought Way to Shore Up
Slumping Cannabis Tax Revenues
by Melinda Burns | April 28, 2023
In a sign of the times, four growers who had obtained zoning permit approvals to plant 163 acres of outdoor cannabis in the North County withdrew their applications for business licenses this month, effectively abandoning their operations, county officials said.
Those withdrawals were on the minds of county supervisors during budget hearings this month as they wrestled with an ongoing decline in cannabis tax revenues. They want to boost revenues even as they acknowledge that higher taxes could force out more growers.
“I want to see us come up with something that’s fair, just and predictable, as much as we can,” said Supervisor Steve Lavagnino of Santa Maria, a chief architect of the county’s 2018 cannabis ordinance. “We’re in a downturn, no doubt, and we’ve got to weather it.”
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