WILLITS, CA., 5/2/25 — An environmental nonprofit has filed a lawsuit challenging an action by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors earlier this month to allow cannabis growers to expand their grows to 20,000 square feet of commercial cannabis on a single parcel, provided they hold the proper cultivation license.
According to the Willits Environmental Center, a nonprofit that advocates for local environmental protection, the county’s interpretation of a county cannabis ordinance “turns seven years of understanding and implementation of the cannabis ordinance on its head.”
The county ordinance restricts growers to 10,000 square feet of commercial cultivation per parcel, provided they hold a cannabis cultivation business license, or CCBL.
Growers are allowed to hold two types of CCBLs and can trade one license for another if they submit a completed application and pay the required fees. Because of the confusion surrounding the ordinance, cultivators with a nursery license, for example, believed they would be allowed to trade the nursery license for a cultivation license and end up with two 10,000-square-foot growing areas or 20,000 square feet. The vote at the April 8 meeting allowed that interpretation of the ordinance to go forward.
According to Ellen Drell, a founder of the Willits Environmental Center, the county did not solicit public feedback before moving forward with the new interpretation of the ordinance. She said more public meetings are needed before increasing the amount of commercial cannabis that can be grown.
“If we’re supposedly an open democratic process, it requires the supervisors to hold public hearings, to let people know and be heard,” Drell said in an interview. “We hope to restore respect for the rule of law. The supervisors can amend the ordinance, but they have to do it properly.”
Drell added that the board’s decision to allow growers to cultivate up to 20,000 square feet of commercial cannabis did not undergo an environmental review and could strain local natural resources. She said this interpretation of the proposal should have gone through a review required under the California Environmental Quality Act.
“If you have enough water for 10,000 square feet and it’s working with your neighbors, what happens if that’s doubled?” she said. “If there’s any possibility that an ordinance or project could negatively affect people or the environment, decision-makers are required to consider those impacts.”
In a press release, the center said it is supported by other local groups that oppose the new interpretation, including the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council and the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Council.
For Mendocino County cannabis entrepreneur Don Graham, known locally as Farmer Don, allowing larger commercial cannabis grows will help local cultivators compete in an industry increasingly dominated by large-scale companies.
“Doing an extra 10,000 square feet, bringing the total to 20,000, means you can start to compete with companies like Glass House,” Graham said in an interview, referring to one of the largest cannabis brands in the industry. “Allowing that kind of expansion not only lets growers diversify their strains, but it also gives them room to take creative risks. A lot of cultivators out here are passionate … they want to experiment. If you only have 10,000 square feet, it’s a big gamble. If a strain doesn’t work, you’ve just lost a big chunk of your crop.”
District 1 Supervisor John Haschak, who represents the region with the highest number of growers in the county, said even cannabis cultivators are divided on how much commercial cannabis should be allowed on a single parcel.
“There are more than two sides. The cannabis community has been really split on this issue,” Haschak said in an interview. “Some people really believe the original intent was to keep cultivation limited to 10,000 square feet, and that Mendocino County should market itself as a niche cannabis region focused on high-quality product. But there are others who want to expand and see this as an opportunity to do that.”
Haschak, one of two supervisors who opposed the interpretation of the ordinance allowing 20,000 square feet of commercial cannabis cultivation, said the county needs to explore other options before making a decision that will affect the entire community.
“I think that there’s other ways we can make the industry survive and thrive,” he said. “We need to explore all those things … to see what people really need.”
The Mendocino Voice reached out to the county’s executive office for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
