Context for conversation

Fear Steve’s question: How many of us are afraid? How we talk about our community & each other reveals the health of our relationships. Our success depends on good communication. Details will increase tension. We are not going to agree on everything. Respect and appreciate our differences. Do not disparage each other or our elected officials.

Advocacy vs. alignment of interests Environmental protection & recreation Youth safety and education Neighborhood safety & preservation Privacy and property enjoyment Quality of life Patient access & protection Reasonable commercial development Compliance Third party certification Crime

Be guided by higher purposes than self interest or agenda Protect environment Protect neighborhoods Protect access for patients “Protection of the public shall be the highest priority…Whenever the protection of the public is inconsistent with other interests sought to be promoted, the protection of the public shall be paramount.” Sect. 19303, AB 266

Neighborhoods How do our recommendations impact our neighborhoods? No one should feel the need to move because of cannabis. Neighbors do not believe county can enforce regulations anyplace, including on the mountain. Licenses should focus on where it is enforceable and makes sense as a legitimate business. C4 should recommend strong protections for neighborhoods, at least 5 acre RA minimum (percent usable property rule?), density limits, setbacks etc. We need to gain community trust for new system to work.

Neighborhoods: “Nip it in the bud” What about banning commercial on land with underlying residential designation in general plan? What about banning any commercial cultivation in Bonny Doon except personal grows? Let’s “trim this” to fit community values.

Balancing What license types make sense to scale e.g. industrial, greenhouse in ag land? What license types should be kept smaller? RA, outdoor? What should be banned? E.g. sensitive areas. Who should be required to register? E.g. everyone. If we need to allow some development to find consensus, can we align around requiring highest level of environmental performance?

Market & taxes County will need additional resources to develop regulatory capacity & address youth, neighborhoods, & environment. Can C4 agree to 10% tax under Measure K? Can C4 recommend county spend more resources on compliance? If we agree to a statewide market, will industry agree to pay taxes on those sales? At what level?

What economic contexts do we need to consider? Agriculture crops produce $29K per acre. Berries average $49K What is economic value of 1 acre (44,000 sq.ft.) of cannabis? What is the economic demand for industrial, commercial & warehouse space in Santa Cruz county vs. space available? How many cannabis licenses can our private sector support without driving out other businesses we need? How many cannabis licenses for indoor cultivation vs. manufacturing?

Cultivator tiers & principles Create matrix & tiers of cultivators by size and proximity to sensitive areas. The larger and closer to sensitive areas, the greater the restrictions & capacity building fees. The smaller and further away, the lesser the restrictions and fees. Even the smallest cultivators need to meet minimum critical specifications tbd. The larger the license, the greater the requirements for social enterprise.

Social enterprise ideas: what examples would we be proud to show people? Require licensees over x size to have active partnership with existing community partners to address key areas of concern. --wildlife protection, odor, water, remediation, youth, medicinal research etc. Require licensees over x size to pay higher minimum wage. Encourage socially disadvantaged and women owned businesses. Require local banking, ownership, residency and reward longevity. License competition around highest values, community & environmental protection.

If we allow licenses, is registration a doorway to compliance? Simple registration requirement as prerequisite for license application. It does not guarantee license. Registration = civil enforcement lane. You are off the criminal lane in case of complaint. Three strike rule. First strike: community intervention. Second strike: code compliance & red tag. Third strike: law enforcement.

Registration helps with phasing Require registration by license category, size, zoning as a prerequisite to licensing. Allows county to evaluate the number, location & size of licenses going forward. County needs to demonstrate commitment to privacy protection, civil enforcement & licensing across the supply chain for registration to work.

Liberty, integrity, safety Personal medical grows should be protected as a matter of liberty and are essential to the health of patients. Personal medical grows can also serve as a front for black market. Personal medical grows can also be operated poorly and be a nuisance. Personal grows should be required to register but pay no fee. Personal grows should be trained/certified in good neighbor/citizenship.

A straw man for starting out: all licenses phased in. Allow up to 200 family farm licenses (up to 500 sf, outdoor or greenhouse grow) (SC has 667 total farmers) (200 includes grandfathered growers) Allow up to 25 licenses in SLV for up to 1,000 sf, 5 acre parcel, setbacks, compliance for grow site, had to be cultivating 5 years ago. Allow up to 10 licenses for small indoor grows or manufacturing in limited commercial areas, up to 1,000 sf for cultivation; 3000 sf for mfr. Reserve x for manufacturing. Allow up to 5 licenses for indoor grows or cannabis manufacturing cap of 5,000- 10,000 sf. (reserve x for manufacturing). Allow up to 25 licenses for commercial agriculture cultivation greenhouses, cap at 10,000 sf. All grows over 200 sf meet all compliance standards for grow operation.

Rahn’s idea revisited C4 could develop brilliant recommendations with thought leadership and viable regulatory strategies. Likelihood of BOS being able to digest and draft our design recommendations by end of January is low. 10 x 10 is logical starting point because it is the original basis for compliance and won’t frighten community. If that doesn’t’ work, how about up to 500 sf as a stake in the ground? What if C4 also included recommendations to: Extend C4 and broaden jurisdiction. Affirm BOS intent to develop & implement comprehensive licensing framework based on C4 & community input.