- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Clearlake Oaks cannabis project proposal fails to pass planning commission
The commission held a two-hour hearing to consider Monte Cristo Vineyards LLC’s cannabis project.
During the Thursday meeting, only three of the commissioners — Everardo Chavez Perez, Maile Field and Christina Price — were present, with John Hess and Batsulwin Brown not in attendance. That meant that all three had to vote to support the project.
However, with only two of the three commissioners voting in support, the project failed to pass.
That result is expected to be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.
The situation with Monte Cristo is another case of neighbors voicing opposition to cannabis growing in proximity to small neighborhoods on the edges of the county’s community growth boundaries.
Jacqueline and Jonathan Dharmapalan are the owners of Monte Cristo, located at 11230 and 11250 Cerrito Drive in Clearlake Oaks.
Jonathan Dharmapalan is founder and chief executive officer of eCurrency Mint Limited, a digital security company and technology infrastructure provider that allows central banks to issue digital currency.
He and his wife have had property in Lake County since 1999. On their 452-acre property, they farm 128 acres of vineyard, and they said they’ve done so mindful of the environment and their neighbors.
Now, faced with challenges including winegrape crops that have been lost entirely to smoke damage — as Jonathan Dharmapalan said was the case in 2018 — they’re seeking to diversify their farming operation, a process that he said has already been very expensive.
They’re proposing to remove 40 acres of vineyard and plant 22 acres of cannabis, and seeking 22 A-Type 3 “medium outdoor” licenses.
While it would be one of the largest single plantings of cannabis in Lake County, the Dharmapalans said they’ve tried to lessen the impact by planting cannabis in the part of the property that’s the farthest away from neighbors.
Community Development Department staff said the 22 acres of canopy would be planted in stages over four distinct areas of the property. Only 14 acres would be planted during the drought emergency.
In addition to the cultivation area, the plan calls for a 6,000 square foot processing and harvest storage facility, two 3,000 square foot greenhouses, two 120-square-foot pesticide and agriculture chemicals storage areas, a 120-square-foot security center and shed, and 6 feet of woven wire fencing around the cultivation area.
The property currently has a residence, metal barn, an off-stream reservoir with 20 acre feet of water and five existing on-site groundwater wells.
The project is expected to use 15 million gallons of water per year, compared to the nearly 28 million gallons the vineyard currently uses.
While the proponents said water usage would be down, overall daily trips would increase on a narrow country road that neighbors said is not in good shape.
In addition, in a June 9 letter on the project, Northshore Fire Chief Mike Ciancio said the project would be subject to fire mitigation fees totaling $970,680.
Based on the evaluation of the project, county staff recommended the commission adopt a mitigated negative declaration to allow it to move forward.
Neighbors, cannabis proponents disagree on project
During the public comment portion of the hearing, the project received support from cannabis industry members but opposition from neighbors, who raised issues common in cases where such operations intersect with rural communities: noise, dust, traffic, fire danger and crime, with special emphasis on water usage.
Clearlake Oaks resident Chuck Lamb said he was “pretty disappointed” that planning staff recommended a mitigated negative declaration, saying that impacts on health, safety and welfare haven’t been mitigated.
Jennifer Smith, president of the Lake County Cannabis Alliance, said she heard the concerns from neighbors, but maintained there is no significant change in conditions when converting from winegrapes to cannabis.
“It’s still a plant. It’s still being harvested by the same labor force that would be harvesting the winegrapes that already exist there,” and using the same water, said Smith.
“It feels prejudiced against one plant versus another when there’s no change in any other conditions,” said Smith, suggesting that it should be approved for that reason alone.
Smith said she had toured the property and met with the owners, and believes their plans are beautiful and in alignment with what the cannabis industry wants. They also have worked with the ecology and topography of their land to be sustainable, and it’s a great conversion.
The project’s consultant, Trey Sherrill, said that commercial cannabis requires mitigation measures that will address things like dust that the vineyard, as an agricultural use, did not have requirements to address. Monte Cristo’s irrigation also has been improving so that it uses less water.
Sherrill said the number of employees on site will increase slightly, from an average of 16.7 employees to 18.4 with cannabis, and in addition to the September grape harvest there will be an October cannabis harvest period.
Project neighbor Randy Wilk referred to a petition with 165 signatures and close to 30 letters submitted in opposition to the project, which he said is right in a tranquil neighborhood.
Wilk and other residents have criticized the Dharmapalans for lack of outreach to their neighborhood about the project.
Jonathan Dharmapalan told the commission that in April he found out the neighbors had written to the county.
“This is a big project,” he said, and if the neighbors have concerns he suggested they weren’t much different from his own, as he and his business are trying to understand how the project will change their farming operation.
If neighbors are still concerned, “We really want them to reach out to us,” Dharmapalan said, adding they want to surpass the county’s standards and be a good example of how to do such a project right.
Commissioner Maile Field raised issues with having applicants hire consultants to complete hydrology studies, which she suggested may end up in those studies not being objective.
She brought up another issue as well. “We’re likely to see property used under the ag ordinance to destroy wild lands, and then people come forward to convert that ag use to something else. And if we approve this kind of project, then we’re setting a precedent.”
Field told Dharmapalan that the concerns were not about who he is. “This is about land use planning.”
She also questioned why he wanted to change the beautiful vineyard to cannabis.
Field said she was concerned for the health, safety and welfare of neighbors. “You have overwhelming opposition to this project in your neighborhood.”
While Field said she thought he had done everything right, she questioned how, in a democracy, it could be allowed to go forward with so much opposition. “There’s just too many issues.”
Dharmapalan explained that adding cannabis was a matter of diversification. “Just farming grapes at one point was a viable option. “It’s getting quite hard to do now,” he said, noting the loss of entire crops due to smoke damage.
Field said she understood diversification, having grown pears, walnuts and winegrapes herself.
However, Field said she doesn't consider cannabis to be farming, and neither does the law.
“You need to convince your neighborhood, because this is a democracy,” she said.
Everardo Chavez Perez said he supported the project but he was concerned due to the two missing commissioners and moved to continue the hearing to July 28.
Commissioner Christina Price seconded the motion, with the vote being 2-1. Due to not having at least three votes, that motion failed.
Chavez Perez then moved to find that the major use permit wouldn’t have a significant effect
on the environment and to approve a mitigated negative declaration, with Price seconding.
However, again, the vote was 2-1, with Field dissenting.
With that motion failing, the commission could not go forward with approving the major use permit.
The Dharmapalans have seven calendar days to file an appeal to the Board of Supervisors.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.