Santa Barbara County Approves ‘Gargantuan’ Cannabis ‘Grow’
Sta. Rita Hills Vintners Fear Their Premium Wine Grapes and Tasting Rooms Will Suffer
A zoning permit for SFS Farms, 87 acres of outdoor cannabis cultivation at the western end of the Sta. Rita Hills, the county’s most successful wine region, was approved by the County Board of Supervisors this week with few concessions to the neighboring vintners.
SFS Farms, owned by investors in Colorado and Manhattan Beach, is the largest “grow” approved by the county to date. If it were up and running today, it would be one of the largest cannabis operations in the U.S.; 87 acres is about 65 football fields’ worth of pot.
“I do favor large-size grows,” Supervisor Steve Lavagnino, who represents the Santa Maria Valley, said at Tuesday’s “virtual” hearing, where, for the first time in more than a year, all five supervisors sat together at the dais, without masks.
