San Mateo supes OK greenhouse pot growing

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors passed a greenhouse cannabis cultivation ordinance by a unanimous vote Tuesday, according to county staff.

The ordinance takes effect Jan. 12, 2018, and requires cannabis greenhouses in unincorporated San Mateo County to be at least 1,000 feet from residential properties, schools, youth centers, playgrounds and drug or alcohol treatment facilities.

Cannabis greenhouses will also have to be located in areas designated for agriculture in the general plan, or on land that has been used for agricultural purposes for at least three years.

Personal outdoor cultivation at private residences and all other commercial cannabis related activities, which were the subject of a temporary moratorium passed in Dec. 2016, will remain prohibited for at least one more year – but the board emphasized that this should not be seen as a tendency toward long term prohibition.

Rather, they are trying to give the county time to study the question of whether to allow other types of cultivation.

“By approving a tightly controlled ordinance for commercial cannabis cultivation, the Board of Supervisors will be supporting our local growers,” Don Horsley, board president, said in a statement. “I don’t foresee any material community impact.” The draft ordinance is available online at http://cmo.smcgov.org/cannabis-ordinance.