2a) Discussion and Possible Action Including Providing Recommendations to Staff and a Referral to the Board of Supervisors Recommending Approval of the County of Mendocino Cannabis Department Monthly Update for April 2023
Dear Honorable Supervisors- My husband and I are in support of MCA’s memo and recommendations to streamline the process and gain clarification on the status of processing permits, LEEP grant applications and updating the mission statement of the cannabis department to include “timely”, with the idea in mind to speed the processing up. We have two specialty cottage provisionals in process to replace our larger 10k Mixed light permit and a nursery license. Our Original mixed light provisional expires October 18th, 2023 and we would like to feel assured we can make that timeline so we do not have to pay the $11,800 to extend that one while we wait for the specialty sizes in replacement. Our appendix G is in process by our consulting agent and it is ready to turn in this week as well. We have done everything we can to reply immediately to information and document requests, many many map updates costing thousands of dollars and many months of turmoil and stress. As eligible Leep grant applicants we are waiting in limbo for the process to be done. We signed legal documents with the county just around the New Year and have been waiting to find out only to be delayed further as the program was put on hold recently. We would like some communications around where we are in the stack and if Leep grant payouts are coming soon.
Thank you for doing your best to speed this process up and make things run smoother.
I want to register comments about Agenda Item 2a, regarding the County of Mendocino Cannabis Department Monthly Update.
First, I fully support the memo from MCD and its recommendations to simplify and speed the processing of cannabis applications. Their suggestions regarding the processing of cannabis applications and the postponement of taxes are important ways to promote the success of local cannabis cultivation and distribution.
I regret, however, the County's years'-long efforts to focus its ordinance drafting on compliance and taxation rather than ensuring the rapid approval of cannabis licenses and the avoidance of taxes by this burdened cannabis community. Had the County made the same mostly onerous requirements for the processing of grapes and the production of wine, Mendoicino County would have failed abysmally in that market also. Stop imposing complex rules with difficult processes and the collection of tax revenue, at least for a few years, while the legal cannabis market recovers from the county's previous failures and incompetent clerical administration.
Making cannabis a highly regulated and heavily taxed crop serves nobody but administrative clerks and tax collectors. State laws can be enforced in more generous and simple ways without complex ordinances that can barely be understood. Tell your lawyers to simplify and ease the requirements! How many pages and provisions do you need to care about generators and CEQA rules? Your lawyers are too prolix. They are showing off and adding mostly nothing important.
Dear Honorable Supervisors- My husband and I are in support of MCA’s memo and recommendations to streamline the process and gain clarification on the status of processing permits, LEEP grant applications and updating the mission statement of the cannabis department to include “timely”, with the idea in mind to speed the processing up. We have two specialty cottage provisionals in process to replace our larger 10k Mixed light permit and a nursery license. Our Original mixed light provisional expires October 18th, 2023 and we would like to feel assured we can make that timeline so we do not have to pay the $11,800 to extend that one while we wait for the specialty sizes in replacement. Our appendix G is in process by our consulting agent and it is ready to turn in this week as well. We have done everything we can to reply immediately to information and document requests, many many map updates costing thousands of dollars and many months of turmoil and stress. As eligible Leep grant applicants we are waiting in limbo for the process to be done. We signed legal documents with the county just around the New Year and have been waiting to find out only to be delayed further as the program was put on hold recently. We would like some communications around where we are in the stack and if Leep grant payouts are coming soon.
Thank you for doing your best to speed this process up and make things run smoother.
I want to register comments about Agenda Item 2a, regarding the County of Mendocino Cannabis Department Monthly Update.
First, I fully support the memo from MCD and its recommendations to simplify and speed the processing of cannabis applications. Their suggestions regarding the processing of cannabis applications and the postponement of taxes are important ways to promote the success of local cannabis cultivation and distribution.
I regret, however, the County's years'-long efforts to focus its ordinance drafting on compliance and taxation rather than ensuring the rapid approval of cannabis licenses and the avoidance of taxes by this burdened cannabis community. Had the County made the same mostly onerous requirements for the processing of grapes and the production of wine, Mendoicino County would have failed abysmally in that market also. Stop imposing complex rules with difficult processes and the collection of tax revenue, at least for a few years, while the legal cannabis market recovers from the county's previous failures and incompetent clerical administration.
Making cannabis a highly regulated and heavily taxed crop serves nobody but administrative clerks and tax collectors. State laws can be enforced in more generous and simple ways without complex ordinances that can barely be understood. Tell your lawyers to simplify and ease the requirements! How many pages and provisions do you need to care about generators and CEQA rules? Your lawyers are too prolix. They are showing off and adding mostly nothing important.
Honorable Supervisors,
Please review MCA's memo for tomorrow's meeting, covering these topics:
- April MCD Report Questions and Recommendations
- MCD General Procedural Recommendations
- Acceptable Tax Appeal Conditions
- Reduction in Cannabis Business Tax Clarification re: Minimum Tax
We appreciate your consideration of our questions and recommendations.
Sincerely,
Mendocino Cannabis Alliance
e: info@mendocannabis.com