On Gore & Hopkins watch: the county’s cannabis regulations have been a fiasco (Wine and Water Watch)

Hopkins is on a roll: Sebastopol Inn purchase (state felt it over priced, Oakland housed 100 for Hopkins 31 same $), Measures in special election failed, power grab as board president failed, pushing biomass industry (dirtier than coal), cannabis ad hoc co-chair with Gore FIASCO.

Hopkins’ comments

EDITOR: I found Supervisor Lynda Hopkins’ comments in the April 4 article about cannabis farms disingenuous at best (“Rift over cannabis farms widening”). I scratched my head when I read that she questioned where the figure of 65,000 acres available for cannabis cultivation came from and said she would like to see data to back up that assertion.

For the past several years, she and Supervisor James Gore comprised the committee that directed county planning staff on developing a new cannabis ordinance. If the figure is grossly over what is available or economically viable, why didn’t she ensure that a more accurate figure was incorporated into the draft ordinance and used as a basis for addressing environmental and aesthetic impacts?

At a minimum, urban boundary acreages should have been excluded as well as federal- and state-recognized impacted water sheds. A properly crafted ordinance could allow for ample acreage for cannabis grows while protecting rural residents’ quality of life.

I have to agree with the growers and rural residents that from inception the county’s cannabis regulations have been a fiasco.

For the record, the 65,000-acre figure is on Page 25 of the county’s draft subsequent mitigated negative declaration.

name withheld for privacy

Santa Rosa

Wine and Water Watch