Santa Barbara County has revoked licenses for nine cannabis operators after the businesses failed to install carbon scrubbers before the end-of-March deadline.

Spokeswoman Kelsey Gerckens Buttitta confirmed that the County Executive Office issued the revocation letters on April 3 after staff determined the operators were not in compliance with the ordinance.

The operators who had their business licenses revoked are: Blue Whale Agriculture, Inc.; Bosim 1628 Management Company, LLC; Bronco Management, LLC; CKC Farms, Inc.; G&K Produce, LLC; K&G Flowers, LLC; Life Remedy Farms, Inc.; New Generation Farms, Inc.; and Pacific Grown Organics, LLC.

The Board of Supervisors passed a new ordinance requiring carbon scrubbers, or a proven equivalent, after years of residents complaining about odors from local cannabis operations.

Supervisors gave operators a year to install odor abatement technology and update an odor abatement plan. The deadline to install the scrubbers was March 18, and the county officially began handing out notices of violation on March 20.

Staff from the County Executive Office began conducting final site inspections on April 1 to see if the businesses complied. The office sent out letters revoking licenses on April 3 for businesses where the scrubbers were not installed.

Operators who had their licenses revoked do have the option to appeal the decision and request a hearing to present evidence.

If an operator does not properly appeal the decision within 10 days, the revocation becomes final. At that point, the operator must begin to wind down and cease operations, according to Gerckens Buttitta.

She added that operators who do appeal within the 10 days can continue their operations until the appeal process is complete.

The highest concentration of local cannabis farms has been in the Carpinteria Valley, which has seen an increase in farms since recreational marijuana was legalized on a state level in 2016.

Since then, residents have complained that the greenhouse growing operations created nuisance odors throughout the area. Some cannabis farms tried to cover the smell with a scented vapor system, but neighbors say it did not do enough to cover the odor.

Between 2018 and 2025, the county received over 3,700 complaints about cannabis smells. During a public meeting held in Carpinteria in 2025, some residents told board members they had given up filing official complaints after years of inaction.

The Board of Supervisors mandated the carbon scrubbers in 2025 and returned to discuss the topic and the deadline on March 10 this year.

Eight cannabis operations asked the board for extensions on installing the scrubbers just before the deadline was scheduled to pass.

The operations cited different issues ranging from supply chain issues to needing more time to upgrade their electrical systems.

The Board of Supervisors was not sympathetic to the requests for more time, saying that the operators had a year to meet the deadline. Some of the board members accused the operators of stalling and not doing enough to ensure they were prepared.

First District Supervisor Roy Lee, who represents Carpinteria Valley, said the businesses could not meet the deadline because of self-imposed delays.

“As a county supervisor, I am incredibly disappointed (in) these growers,” Lee said at the meeting. “But as a Carpinterian, my community deserves better. We will not tolerate any more cannabis odors. Enough is enough.”