Santa Barbara County’s path toward enforcing new restrictions on cannabis greenhouses is one step shorter—thanks to a recent conditional green light from the California Coastal Commission.

In March, the county Board of Supervisors adopted a plan requiring cannabis growers with indoor cultivation operations to follow new odor mitigation protocols, set to go into effect in early 2026.

The mandate included a land-use amendment to the coastal zoning ordinance, “in regards to requiring specific odor abatement systems to be installed on commercial cannabis operations,” county Planning and Development Assistant Director Jeffrey Wilson said, which put the policy proposal within the state Coastal Commission’s purview.

“In September of this year, we received a conditional certification from the Coastal Commission with some modifications on that ordinance amendment,” Wilson told supervisors during their Oct. 21 meeting.

Wilson described the modifications as “mainly clarification language,” with some formatting adjustments he said were “insignificant as far as the overall intent” of the proposed cannabis odor abatement protocol.

“The goal is to be able to get that back to the Coastal Commission either by December or January of next year so we can get final certification,” Wilson said, before recommending that supervisors accept the commission’s modifications.

Before motioning to approve the revisions, 1st District Supervisor Roy Lee thanked the Coastal Commission for “putting this as a priority, to make sure we achieve the goals we’re setting for ourselves at the county.” 

Lee’s district was at the center of the abatement policy’s origin, as the majority of cannabis odor complaints—from a total of 3,700 complaints the county received between 2018 and 2025—were from Carpinteria Valley residents.

“Today’s a great day for the people of the Carpinteria Valley,” Lee said. “It’s something they’ve been struggling with, and it’s good to see that there’s change coming.”

County 4th District Supervisor Bob Nelson seconded Lee’s motion, which passed 5-0. 

In 2024, Nelson’s office worked with 2nd District Supervisor Laura Capps’ office for nearly a year on a solution that addressed the county’s cannabis odor issues. At the start of 2025, the two offices presented their pitch for the county to require indoor cannabis cultivators to install multi-carbon filtration technology for odor mitigation.

In January, Supervisor Capps anticipated a quick turnaround from the California Coastal Commission, which she said promised an expedited review.

Capps reiterated her appreciation of the commission at the Oct. 21 meeting.

“I think the Coastal Commission often gets a bad rap for being a place where things get really gummed down and slowed,” Capps said. “They moved fast, … I acknowledge their fast work.”

This article appears in Oct 23 – Oct 30, 2025.