The city of Goleta has reached an agreement with the owners of a proposed cannabis farm and processing facility adjacent to the city, addressing concerns about odor abatement and hydrogen sulfide hazards.
Santa Barbara County last year approved the project at 222 Winchester Canyon Road, just outside the western city limits.
Hidden Trails, LLC has plans for an outdoor cannabis and indoor processing project located on 349 acres of agriculturally zoned property.
Specifically, the project calls for the development of 17 acres of nursery and outdoor cannabis cultivation, 0.44 acres of nursery cultivation, and an existing 6,000-square-foot processing building that will be rebuilt and used to dry, process and store cannabis, and distribution.
“The settlement agreement obligates Hidden Trails staff to have in place a robust odor response complaint and remediation process and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) monitoring system,” according to a statement from the city.
City officials indicated last fall that they planned to appeal a land-use development permit for the project issued by the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department.
The city said it had been voicing concerns about the project over the previous year, and contended that the county approved the permit before its concerns about odor and hydrogen sulfide were adequately addressed.
Under the settlement with the city, before Hidden Trails can cultivate cannabis, it must construct all its facilities, including installing security fencing and cameras, and obtain a county business license and a state cannabis license.
The city estimates that operations of the project won’t occur for at least 10 months.
“All parties are committed to preventing odor episodes, to developing an objective, measurable way to detect odor, and to utilizing weather monitoring and technology to pinpoint odor sources,” according to the city. “If odor is reported and verified, Hidden Trails is required under the terms of the settlement to immediately implement a series of steps to identify the source and mitigate odor.
“If odor problems recur, Hidden Trails will continuously review their operations and systems and, if they are inadequate, will upgrade their odor control equipment and employ additional mitigation measures to ensure their neighbors do not experience adverse odors.”
Under the settlement, Hidden Trails also will also train its employees to follow stringent operational protocols that will be implemented during harvest periods to minimize odor.
Additionally, Hidden Trails has agreed to install hydrogen sulfide monitors on its irrigation system so that any releases of the gas at “odor nuisance levels” will be reported to the city within an hour of detection.
Moreover, Hidden Trails would not be able to irrigate again with the well water under a corrective action plan has been approved by the county Air Pollution Control District.
“Residents who smell H2S, which can released from agricultural and domestic wells in the region, should call 9-1-1 so that the county Fire Department, as first responders to H2S issues, can measure H2S levels and determine if any emergency response is necessary,” according to the city.
The city touted the settlement as a “state-of-the-art approach to resolving odors associated with cannabis farms.”
“If more advanced technology is developed in the future, the settlement agreement contemplates the implementation of the most current odor control systems,” according to the city. “The city of Goleta and Hidden Trails are committed to working with the residents nearby to resolve any future issues.”
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.