Bitter Feud in Wine Country
Cannabis Growers, Vintners, and Neighbors Clash over Odor
It is a winter of discontent for many Buellton-area vintners and residents, as two more outdoor cannabis operations, one of them slated to be the county’s largest, were approved for the picturesque Sta. Rita Hills wine region.
How and whether the county requires odor controls on these early projects – SFS Farms OpCo 1 at the western end of the Sta. Rita Hills and Central Coast Agriculture at the eastern end – will set a precedent for nearly 800 acres of outdoor “grows” that are proposed and in various stages of county review here, critics say.
In all, the county has received 24 applications for cannabis cultivation in the Sta. Rita Hills, a federally designated American Viticultural Area between Lompoc and Buellton.
