Carpinteria residents could soon get relief from the pungent odors that have permeated their community for so long. The newly sworn-in Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is taking the matter seriously after years of complaints about the smell, and about the outsized influence of the county's “cannabis industrial complex.”
Last year, voters ousted longtime District 1 incumbent Das Williams. He helped craft the permissive cannabis ordinance that turned Santa Barbara into the state's top commercial cannabis hub — all while accepting some $62,500 in contributions from growers. A 2020 grand jury report slammed both Williams and Supervisor Steve Lavagnino for their close relationship with the cannabis industry and the “unfettered access” to marijuana lobbyists in Santa Barbara.
Williams was replaced by former Carpinteria Council Member Roy Lee, who vowed to prioritize residents over growers and ensure their odor concerns finally get resolved. Since 2018, residents have filed nearly 4,000 formal complaints about the cannabis businesses.
Lee wasted no time after his swearing in on January 7. He and Board Chair Laura Capps plan to introduce a new ordinance requiring state-of-the-art carbon filtration “scrubbers” at all 29 cannabis greenhouse operations approved by the county. Scrubbers represent a more comprehensive alternative to the misting systems used by most operators to mask the smell of cannabis.
The new regulations are unlikely to end there.
“We’re flipping the script and no longer putting the burden on neighbors to come to us and try to enact change,” said Capps, as quoted by the Santa Barbara Independent. “My intention is that the board sets the vision for a solution that finally works. Far too long, the neighbors of Carpinteria have been doing the job of [the] government with too much expense, too much acrimony, too much time and litigation. It’s a new chapter with cannabis in Santa Barbara County.”