Santa Barbara County supervisors advanced two cannabis-related items Tuesday, approving new limits on cultivation acreage and issuing the county’s official response to a recent grand jury report on marijuana taxes and spending.
Supervisors voted 4-0 to reduce the overall cultivation cap from 1,761 acres to 1,551, a 12% cut that blocks any new projects not already in the pipeline. Within the Carpinteria Agricultural Overlay district, the cap will drop from 186 acres to 134, covering the 132 acres already permitted and two acres pending approval. In unincorporated areas outside Carpinteria, the acreage limit was lowered from 1,575 to 1,417, enough to account for the 1,314 acres currently in use and another 103 acres approved or awaiting approval.
The board also addressed the grand jury’s “Cannabis Taxation and Expenditures” report, which highlighted concerns about declining revenues and county budgeting practices. Carmela Beck, who manages the county’s cannabis program, said the county largely agreed with the findings, though it partially disagreed with some details.
Beck noted that the county already made budget adjustments before the report was issued, including $1.2 million in cuts to offset falling revenue caused by oversupply and a collapse in wholesale marijuana prices. She also pointed out that the county reduced the share of cannabis tax revenue going toward deferred maintenance and capital projects by 35%, addressing concerns raised in the report.
While agreeing that enforcement spending and program costs required closer oversight, county officials pushed back on the suggestion that licensing and payment systems should be centralized, arguing that integrating them would be costly.
Beck emphasized the county’s commitment to a “well-regulated cannabis industry” and said recent changes were designed to keep the program balanced and sustainable despite a volatile market.
