Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: John L. Maltbie, County Manager
Michael Callagy, Assistant County Manager
Steve Monowitz, Community Development Director
Subject: Ordinance repealing Chapter 5.148 of Title 5 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code and replacing it with a new Chapter 5.148, to require a discretionary, rather than ministerial, license to engage in commercial cannabis cultivation in the unincorporated area of San Mateo County.
RECOMMENDATION:
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Introduction of an ordinance repealing Chapter 5.148 of Title 5 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code and replacing it with a new Chapter 5.148, to require a discretionary, rather than ministerial, license to engage in commercial cannabis cultivation in the unincorporated area of San Mateo County, and waive reading of such ordinance in its entirety.
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BACKGROUND:
On December 12, 2017, the Board of Supervisors adopted Chapter 5.148 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code, which established regulations for commercial cannabis activities and imposed a license requirement for the cultivation of commercial cannabis in the unincorporated area of San Mateo County. The Board directed staff to continue to monitor developments in the rapidly-developing commercial cannabis field and to return, as necessary, with modifications to the program.
The existing ordinance allows the County to issue ministerial licenses for mixed-light (i.e., greenhouse) cultivation and greenhouse nursery cultivation operations in areas designated "Agriculture" by the County General Plan, or on lands on which documented agriculture has been conducted for at least three (3) years preceding the adoption of this ordinance. These lands are distributed throughout the unincorporated San Mateo County, primarily in the Coastal Zone. While the ordinance provided for ministerial approval of the cultivation license, other existing zoning or land use r...
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