August 26, 2025
Letter to Planning Commissioners on Staffs proposal to remove the health and safety clause from the Cannabis Ordinance
From: Neighborhood Coalition<sonomaneighborhoodcoalition@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Subject: VANISHED - THE HEALTH AND SAFETY CLAUSE
To: <Tim.Freeman@sonomacounty.gov>,<Tom.Bahning@sonomacounty.gov>,<larry.reed@sonomacounty.gov>,<Webster.Marquez@sonomacounty.gov>,<Shaun.McCaffery@sonomacounty.gov>
Dear Planning Commissioners,
Health and Safety Clause
· Why does staff want to remove the Health and Safety clause?
· Staff has confirmed that this level of protection, including from odors and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), does not appear elsewhere in county code.
· Although the State nuisance code (§ 3479) protects against ‘anything which is injurious to health’ or ‘is offensive to the senses……so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property’, the Health and Safety clause gives county regulators much better control when issuing permits so they do not harm neighbors or cause public nuisance.
· The Health and Safety clause should be retained in the new cannabis ordinance as currently written. This is an evolving industry and new issues may arise. The clause is much more transparent to the public.
Current Health and Safety Clause.
“Commercial cannabis activity shall not create a public nuisance or adversely affect the health or safety of the nearby residents or businesses by creating dust, light, glare, heat, noise, noxious gasses, odor, smoke,traffic, vibration, unsafe conditions or other impacts, or be hazardous due to the use or storage of materials, processes, products, runoff or wastes.”
Thank you,
Nancy and Brantly Richardson, Communication Directors