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October 18, 2022 \u2014 With harvest season underway, cannabis is in the spotlight at the Board of Supervisors chambers.\n\nEarlier this month, at a meeting that dragged on until after 7:00 pm, the Board discussed a dozen recommendations by the cannabis ad hoc committee, consisting of Supervisors John Haschak and Glenn McGourty. Several of the recommendations were passed to the General Government standing committee, which is made up of Supervisors Maureen Mulheren and Dan Gjerde. The composition could change next year, with the rotation of positions on the board. \n\nThe question of vegetation modification, referred to politely as veg mod purgatory, is still hanging in the air, as an outside legal firm ponders the details. Growers have worried that their permits could be revoked or denied if they remove trees and vegetation from around their grow sites, even if it was for fire safety or because the vegetation was diseased.\nAt Monday\u2019s General Government standing committee meeting, County Counsel Christian Curtis asked for more time to prepare an affidavit for growers to present as evidence that they have removed a tree for legitimate purposes. \n\n\u201cThe primary issue here is not so much the issue of whether or not trees can be removed,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s pretty clear from the ordinance that they can, unless it\u2019s a commercial species, with certain provisos\u2026I see from the recommendation put forward from the ad hoc, there are some features there that model what we\u2019ve been working on\u2026we\u2019re working with the department on a potential affidavit process to essentially establish as a starting point where people are, establish compliance with the ordinance with respect to the tree removal\u2026a big part of the issue is, when you have the affidavit, what are the appropriate standards for the departments to apply when they think there may be something false in the affidavit, what may be the appropriate standard, both to investigate, and once having investigated, what would be an appropriate standard to apply, based on what they have.\u201d\n\nAttorney Hannah Nelson, who outlined the idea about the affidavit in a memo to the Board, summarized the historical context of policies that haven\u2019t always arrived at a tidy conclusion.\n\n\u201cThis is after five and a half years, the sixth department head slash manager in the third department, and processes have changed, and so I think that it\u2019s important to note that it\u2019s not just about the evidentiary standards, but also inclusion of standards such as, can dead trees be removed or not,\u201d she opined.\n\nMichael Katz, Executive Director of the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, urged the committee to avail itself of Nelson\u2019s legal memos. Last month, she submitted several pages on tree removal, with details about the affidavit and a critique of the current vegetation modification notice process.\n\n\u201cHannah is a thirty-year expert attorney who successfully litigated the first case for the federal government to have to return medical cannabis to a patient,\u201d he said. \u201cSo she really knows what she\u2019s talking about. And for her to provide dozens and dozens of pages of specific language recommendations that are then be either ignored or unseen or asked for repeatedly, and not actually absorbed and integrated, the county is losing money by not utilizing this free resource and instead hiring outside counsels to come up with things that are already established law.\u201d\n\nThe issue will come back before the committee next month. \n\nAnother item that came before the committee was a suggestion from the ad hoc to create a process to resolve disputes over permits without denying them. The intent is to keep the current applicants on track to getting their state licenses by next summer. Cannabis Department Director Kristin Nevedal said she could craft such a policy, but that it might include a fee.\n\nDuring public comment, Susan Tibben referred to the next big grant that will soon be available to growers. Nevedal succeeded in securing an $18 million local jurisdiction assistance grant program from the state, specifically to help growers comply with environmental requirements for their state licensure. Ten million dollars of the grant will be available to applicants, in awards up to $100,000. The first application window will open in mid-January, and be open for four weeks. After six to eight weeks to process the applications, the window will open again. Tibben thought there would be enough money in the department that applicants disputing an issue in their permits should be able talk with a planner at no extra cost.\n\n\u201cThe idea of staff hour fees tied in any way to a fee for the permittee is just absolutely unacceptable,\u201d she opined. \u201cYou know, earlier today, $18 million was referenced with regard to the LJAGP (local jurisdiction assistance grant program), with $10 million earmarked for grantees, so that would leave $8 million, and also our tax dollars\u2026so please do not even consider a hierarchy of department a...