Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Small scale cannabis producers seeking more control when it comes to selling their crops are getting a boost from Humboldt County's Board of Supervisors, which has approved rule changes making it easier to do cottage.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Industry style cannabis business.
Changes to the county's cannabis ordinance designed to allow micro businesses to broaden their activities were approved at the board's Nov. 18 meeting.
The changes redefine a micro business as a composite use, including non volatile manufacturing, distribution and retail sales.
Those would have to be related to cannabis cultivation of less than 10,000 square feet.
The changes respond to a lot of feedback from cannabis producers who believe they're often underpaid by distributors or not paid at all.
The ability to sell retail cannabis on site was discussed in this exchange between Supervisor Rex Bone and County Planner Augustus Grouchow.
[00:01:03] Speaker C: Most of my complaints lately have been from distributors not paying the cultivator. I mean 75, 80, $100,000 out there, which is make or break.
Basically our taxes are no so is there going to be a direct linkage?
[00:01:17] Speaker D: You know, so in order to be able to sell your product, you're going to need to modify your permit in order to allow for off site retail sales.
That is part of this ordinance, essentially saying this is part of the ZCC that you could be getting.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Grouchow clarified that micro businesses will be able to deliver their own products to customers as long as they have county clearance from the tax collector, but a state transport license is still needed.
The changes will help cultivators add manufacturing and retail sales to their cultivation permits.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: Without requiring a more complex and costly special permit.
[00:01:56] Speaker A: Non volatile extraction facilities can also be approved administratively if they don't involve customer traffic and are associated with a cultivation permit.
During a public comment period, Ross Gordon of the Humboldt County Growers alliance said cutting out the middlemen is a positive step, but others need to be taken.
[00:02:18] Speaker E: I think, you know, but this is definitely one of the top issues, if not the major issue that farmers here are facing broadly, which is trying to sell a craft product but having to go through multiple middlemen on the way to doing that distribution and retail. That means you're not necessarily controlling the quality of your product as it moves through the supply chain. It means you're not necessarily able to tell your story as it moves through the supply chain. And it means, as I think was pointed out, you may not get paid and a lot of people are in that situation. So really appreciate trying to address this issue.
Also appreciate the discussion and I think the acknowledgment of the reality, which is this is a incremental step in the right direction and one that we urge you to support and approve today. But also I think it's important to understand contextually what barriers are going to continue to exist. I think this sort of widens the opportunity to jump through a bunch of other hoops that are also going to be significant to jump through.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: Gordon said further help to small scale producers can be had on the state level, such as making it easier to.
[00:03:17] Speaker B: Sell cannabis at events, not requiring expensive insurance to transport, and not requiring video surveillance.
[00:03:25] Speaker A: Planning director John Ford said his department is open to developing further changes to make cannabis production within residences easier and quote, otherwise we will just seek to.
[00:03:36] Speaker B: Interpret that as being consistent with the code.
Supervisor Natalie Arroyo vouched for extending the approach on a broader scale.
[00:03:46] Speaker F: When these issues around cottage businesses come up in general, I mean, I would love to see us have the opportunity to have more flexibility with people's home businesses.
I think we recognize that that's part of the business culture here. And you know, from an environmental health and building perspective, this affects home bakeries the same way that it does tamale makers, the same way that it does these, these micro businesses. And so I think we can continue to look at what opportunities we have to allow more flexibility and work with the state on that and make that a clear priority.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: The micro business permit changes were unanimously approved in Eureka. For KMUD News, this is Daniel Mintz.
