WOODLAND — Yolo County supervisors on Tuesday praised the Sheriff’s Department’s recent efforts to crack down on illegal cannabis cultivation and suggested the county also go after the landowners on whose properties the illegal cultivation is occurring.
Since Aug. 29, sheriff’s deputies have executed nine search warrants on illegal grows, resulting in 13 arrests and the confiscation of more than $14 million worth of illegally grown cannabis.
Warrants were executed in multiple locations, from Dunnigan to Zamora to the Capay Valley.
The 13 people arrested, Undersheriff Tom Lopez told county supervisors, were charged with crimes ranging from possession for sale to conspiracy, and several of those arrested were felons in possession of weapons and ammunition.
Under current law, commercial cultivation of medical cannabis is allowed only by growers who obtained a permit from the county. Those growers were individually vetted and approved by the county, which retained the right to deny permits to applicants with criminal records.
Currently, about 80 people have commercial cultivation permits, and supervisors last fall enacted a moratorium on any new permits while the board continues to craft a permanent cannabis ordinance.
Meanwhile, concerns have been raised by both county supervisors and permitted growers about the unfair competition of illegal growers who have not obtained a permit and are not meeting the same environmental and safety regulations as legal growers.
The board included $362,000 in the county budget last month for enforcement of illegal cannabis cultivation, covering the cost of two additional deputy sheriff positions as well as new patrol cars.
A tax measure planned for the June ballot would pay for such enforcement costs in the future.
In addition to the raids conducted on illegal grow sites during the last month, the Sheriff’s Department also has been responding to related calls for service from legal growers, Lopez said.
Those calls have included a complaint about a drone seen flying over a grow site in Woodland last month, as well as attempted break-ins, thefts and vandalism at permitted sites.
Cannabis theft has led deputies to add a new item to the list of tools they look for when investigating incidents, Lopez said.
“As law enforcement, we look for burglary tools, and now we’ve added pruning shears to our list,” he told supervisors. “We’re finding, instead of weapons, we’re running into pruning shears that folks are carrying in their cars.”
Meanwhile, Sheriff Ed Prieto noted that illegal cannabis cultivation “has always been there, but now we’re interested, we’re responding (and) we’re going to be vigilant.”
He said he hopes as news spreads of raids, folks who are growing without a permit will head elsewhere.
According to Lopez, most of the those arrested in the last month were not from Yolo County.
Supervisor Matt Rexroad of Woodland praised the department’s efforts, saying “that’s exactly the right thing to do.”
“(A)nd the media coverage you’ve gotten helps spread that message loud and clear,” he said.
But Rexroad — supported by the rest of the board — also urged that the county go after the landowners where the illegal cultivation is occurring.
“That’s the way that we’re going to shut these down, is by the landowners … having a lien for $50,000 for the sheriff’s time to come in and enforce your illegal grow issue. I want that penalty to occur if it’s available for us,” he said.
Possible options discussed included charging landowners for allowing the activity to occur and taking action under the Unfair Business Practices Act as well.
Additionally, Lopez told supervisors, “is once a case is adjudicated, we can look at asset seizure.”
The undersheriff noted that the department’s efforts are still in the early stages of the enforcement effort, but added that “we have many more search warrants in the queue.”
In addition to discussing illegal cannabis enforcement on Tuesday, the board also provided direction to staff on what they want in a land-use ordinance governing legal cultivation.
The ordinance would govern all allowed cultivation activities — indoor and out — including nurseries and trimming facilities. Excluded would be retail, manufacturing, distribution, transportation and testing activities — none of which would be allowed.
The ordinance would establish which zoning districts allow cannabis activities (and prohibit those activities in rural residential areas) and also would require a discretionary use permit approval process for all activities — a process that would include notice to neighbors, a public hearing and California Environmental Quality Act compliance.
Public input will be sought over the next year as the ordinance is drafted, including public hearings that will take place throughout the county.
— Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at aternus@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8051. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy