The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission voted Wednesday to approve a new threshold for odors from cannabis plants.

The odor limit recommended by county staff from the Planning & Development Department was 7 d/t, which would be measured by a tool called a “Nasal Ranger.”

Under this measurement, cannabis operations that measure at or above 7 d/t at their property for a period of three minutes would be in violation of the county ordinance.

The commission voted to approve the threshold in a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Laura Bridley casting the lone vote against it.

The commission also voted to approve an extension period for operators who need more time to comply with the new ordinance. Operators will have 12 months to update their facilities once the changes to the ordinance are approved by the Board of Supervisors.

However, the changes from the commission will allow operators to apply for an extension if they encounter issues that prevent them from coming into compliance during the 12-month window.

Hardships that could qualify for a delay include supply chain issues, delays in installing power lines for equipment, and other issues that may hold up compliance.

Operators who apply for an extension may be granted one up to 12 months from the date the amendments are approved.

Commissioner Vincent Martinez expressed concern about the appeal process. His concern was that a lawyer for a cannabis operator could appeal the decision days before the deadline and drag out the process.

He said he would like to clarify the appeal process to set up a timeline that would outline when an applicant would have to submit their appeal for an extension.

“I would think we need to just tighten that up a little bit in regard to when they would have to submit it,” Martinez said.

The difficult part came next, with the planning commissioners unable to agree on final decision-making.

The main issue for the commission was how to handle additional appeals past the first one — specifically, how the second appeal would be approved and whether the decision-maker would have final approval.

For the first extension, the application would follow the normal process of being approved by the director of Planning & Development, then going to the Planning Commission before the Board of Supervisors grants final approval.

The commission voted to approve this process in a 3-2 vote, with Martinez and Commissioner Michael Cooney voting against it.

However, the commission disagreed on the issue of additional extensions after the first one expired.

County staff provided multiple options to the commission. One involved giving the final say to the director of Planning & Development, the Planning Commission or the Board of Supervisors.

Under this proposal, the process could skip part of the normal process. However, the Planning Commission seemed reluctant to remove itself from the process entirely.

Commissioner John Parke did not like the idea of sending appeals directly to the Board of Supervisors and skipping the commission’s role in the process.

Commissioner Roy Reed, on the other hand, said he would support granting final say to the board.

The commission also discussed whether the decision-maker would have the final say on the matter or whether the choice could be appealed. 

In the end, the Planning Commission could not decide on who would make the final decision on second appeals. The changes regarding the odor threshold and what counts as a hardship for appeals were voted on their own.

The commission then voted on each option for who would approve appeals, but each option failed to gain enough votes.

In the end, the Planning Commission approved the odor threshold, what qualifies as a hardship for extension, and the first extension period.

The item is now scheduled to return to the Board of Supervisors on March 18 for consideration and decide how to proceed.  

After the meeting, Supervisor Roy Lee said he would like to see the process move along faster.

“Like most people in Carpinteria, I am frustrated with the process. There’s been a breakdown of trust between the people of Carpinteria and the county on cannabis odor — and, of course, not a single grower has ever been held accountable by our current system,” Lee said.

On the topic of extensions, Lee said he is not willing to grant them without a good reason.

“The bottom line is that the scrubbers are going in. If someone wants an extension, they’re going to have to come up with a pretty good reason, and that decision needs to be made by the Board of Supervisors — no steps, straight to us,” he said.

Laura Capps, chair of the Board of Supervisors, also said she would not be willing to offer extensions unless there is a good reason.

“We are now moving swiftly on action that has been long overdue: requiring the best solution to reduce the cannabis odor that has harmed Carpinterians for years,” Capps said in a statement.

“Once the board takes action on March 18, those in the industry who have yet to install carbon scrubbers will need to do so. Several already have. It will be a high bar for me to grant any extensions to this overdue requirement. The cannabis industry has known for years that that this type of technology is the most effective and has already had plenty of time and financial resources to solve the problem.”