To: Zoning Administrator
From: Planning and Building Department
Agenda Section: Consent
SUBJECT:
title
John Mahoney; Special Permit
Record Number: PLN-13137-SP (filed 08/04/2016)
Assessor Parcel Numbers (APN) 216-107-007
New Harris area
An application for a Special Permit for 6,300 square feet of existing Outdoor cannabis cultivation. Water for irrigation is sourced from an existing off stream pond with approximately 61,500-gal. capacity. Water from the catchment pond is stored in twenty (20) 3,000-gal. tanks, for a total of 60,000-gal. of hard sided storage. Drying and curing will occur on site in an existing 750 square foot attached garage, with all other processing such as trimming and packaging to occur at a licensed off-site facility. Electricity is sourced from PGE.
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Planning Commission:
1. Adopt the resolution (Resolution 23-__). (Attachment 1) which does the following:
a. Finds that the Zoning Administrator has considered the Addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the Commercial Medical Marijauan Land Use Ordinance that was prepared for the John Mahoney project; and
b. Finds that the proposed project complies with the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance; and
c. Approves the Special Permit subject to the recommended conditions of approval (Attachment 1A); and
d. Approves the Cultivations Operations Plan (Attachment 1B) and Site Plan (Attachment 1C).
Body
DISCUSSION:
Project Location: The project is located in Humboldt County, in the New Harris area, on the east side of Lauffer Road, approximately 2.3 miles north from the intersection of Island Mountain Road and Lauffer Road, on the property known as 2343 Lauffer Road.
Access: The project takes access from two County-maintained roads. The project site is located off Lauffer Road, which is approximately 4.4 miles from Island Mountain road, the second County-maintained road.
Present General Plan Land Use Designation: RA60, Residential Agriculture; Density: 60-acres per unit.
Present Zoning: AE, Agriculture Exclusive.
Environmental Review: A project specific Addendum to a previously adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration has been prepared for consideration per §15164 of the State CEQA Guidelines.
State Appeal: This project is NOT appealable to the California Coastal Commission.
Major concerns: None.
Executive Summary: An application for a Special Permit for 6,300 square feet of existing Outdoor cannabis cultivation. Water for irrigation is sourced from an existing off stream pond with approximately 61,500-gal. capacity. Water from the catchment pond is stored in twenty (20) 3,000-gal. tanks, for a total of 60,000-gal. of hard sided storage. Drying and curing will occur on site in an existing garage, with all other processing such as trimming and packaging to occur at a licensed off-site facility. Electricity is sourced from PGE.
No emplyees are proposed for the operation, all cutlviation and related acitivites wil be conducted by the applicant and immediate family members.
Project lies within the Middle Main Eel River watershed. Currently 111 approved permits for commercial cannabis exist in this watershed, and the approved acreage not including this project is 39.29 acres. If this project gains approval the number of issued permits will be 112, and the approved acreage will be 39.43 acres. The cap on this watershed is 360 permits and 125 acres.
Water Resources: Water for the project is supplied by rainwater catchment stored in a series of twenty (20) 3,000-gallon tanks, for a total of 60,000-gal. of storage. Rain is captured in an existing, offstream pond of approximately 61,500-gal. The total amount of potential water storage is approximately 120,000-gal. between rain cathment pond and hard-sided tanks. The offstream pond was analyzed by a licensed engineer and determined to be disconnected from surface waters, having no discrete outfall and no surface watrer flows entering the pond. Captured rainwater is pumped when precipitation occurs into the hard sided storage for use during the cultivation season of approximately April through October annually. Annual water usage for irrigating cannabis has been estimated by the applicant to be approximately 57,881-gal. A well exists on the property and will be used for domestic puroposes only, including the well in the cannabis project at a future time will require a permit modification as described in Humboldt County Code Section 312-11.
A groundwater well and Point of Diversion from surface waters provide water for domestic purposes, and are not proposed to be utilized for the commercial cannabis operation. If applicant wants to change the water source approved for commercial cannabis cultivation a permit modification will be required per Humboldt County Code Section 312-10.5, prior to implementing the use.
Biological Resources: A review of the California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) was conducted and found the project site was approximately 1.5 miles away from mapped marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) habitat on federally managed lands. Additionally, the project site lies approximately 1.3 miles west from Pipe Creek, which provides habitat for the summer run of the steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus). Steelhead at this specific locale are considered federally threatened, and endangered at the state level. Project conditions will require verification from Planning Division staff before the use of any lights for propagation or generators used for emergency backup and time of limited insolation. Lighting must be shielded from escaping between dusk and dawn daily, when in use, and generators must adhere to a 50 decibel (dB) threshold 100 feet from the source or nearest forested edge, whichever is closer. Verification by County staff the project complies with these requirements will be required before the use of any lighting or generators is allowed.
Tribal Cultural Resource Coordination: Project was referred to the Northwest Information Center (NWIC), which requested a Archaeological Survey. Subsequently, an Archaeological Survey was conducted and report provided, indicating the presence of a previously undiscovered prehistoric archaeological site. The report indicates no other archaeological deposits are mapped within ½ mile of the project site, and recommends both a 100 foot buffer around the previously undiscovered archaeological site and inadvertent discovery protocol. The project has been conditioned to implement a 100 foot buffer around the archaeological site and has incorporated inadvertent discovery protocol for any ground disturbing activities. Further, applicant will be required to record on the parcel a Notice of Development Plan, which will limit development to outside a 100-foot buffer around the identified resource. No direct tribal consultation occurred because the parcel lies outside the identified boundaries of any locally identified aboriginal territories.
Access: From Garberville, the site is 22.7 miles east on Alderpoint Road to Bell Springs Road, left onto Island Mountain Road, left onto Road C (optional route), then left onto Lauffer Road to 2343 Lauffer Road. Road Evaluation Reports were prepared by Omsberg & Preston Engineers for Island Mountain Road, Road C, and Lauffer Road (Attachment 3), which indicate that each road is maintained to the equivalent of a road Category 4 standard. Public Works’ recommendations to ensure all fences and gates be relocated out of the County right-of-way and if the County-maintained road (Lauffer Road) has a gravel surface at the location of the driveway, the driveway apron shall be rocked for a minimum width of 18 feet and a length of 50 feet. This is made a condition of approval.
Environmental Review: Based on the results of an environmental analysis, staff finds that all aspects of the project have been considered in a previously adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration that was adopted for the Commercial Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance and has prepared an addendum to this document for consideration by the Zoning Administrator (See Attachment 3 for more information).
Resolution 18-43: Project lies within the Middle Main Eel River watershed. Currently 102 approved permits for commercial cannabis exist in this watershed, and the approved acreage not including this project is 41.61 acres. If this project gains approval the number of issued permits will be 103, and the approved acreage will be 41.75 acres. The cap on this watershed is 360 permits and 125 acres.
Recommendation: Staff recommends that the Zoning Administrator describe the application as a part of the consent agenda, survey the audience to see if any person would like to discuss the application and, if no one requests discussion, make all the required findings based on the evidence in the record, and approve the application subject to the recommended conditions.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The project was referred to responsible agencies and all responding agencies have either responded with no comment or recommended approval or conditional approval. (Attachment 5)
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. The Zoning Administrator could elect not to hear this item and put the decision making in front of the Planning Commission. Any decision to place this matter before the Planning Commission must be done before opening the public hearing on this project; OR
2. The Zoning Administrator could elect to add or delete conditions of approval; OR
3. The Zoning Administrator could deny approval of the requested permits if you are unable to make all of the required findings. Planning Division staff is confident that the required findings can be made based on the submitted evidence and subject to the recommended conditions of approval. Consequently, planning staff does not recommend further consideration of these alternatives.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution
A. Conditions of Approval
B. Cultivation Operations Plan
C. Site Plan
2. Location Maps
3. CEQA Addendum
4. Applicant’s Evidence in Support of the Required Findings
5. Referral Agency Comments and Recommendations
Owner
John Mahoney & Jacqueline Mahony, Trustees of the John and Jacqueline Mahony Living Trust
P.O. Box 166
Redway, CA 95560
Applicant
John Mahony
P.O. Box 166
Redway, CA 95560
Agent
ETA Humboldt
P.O. Box 147
Phillipsville, CA 95559
Please contact Planner Devin Sutfin at (707) 445-7541 or via email at dsutfin1@co.humboldt.ca.us <mailto:dsutfin1@co.humboldt.ca.us> if you have any questions about the scheduled public hearing item.