Memorandum
STAFF REPORT
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Scott DeLeon, Community Development Director
Toccarra Nicole Thomas, Community Development Deputy Director
Prepared by: Eric Porter, Associate Planner
DATE: April 8, 2021
RE: LC Private Reserves; Modification (MMU 20-13) to a Use Permit (UP 18-16) for Commercial Cannabis Cultivation and Categorical Exemption to CEQA (CE 20-67). APN: 012-006-58
Supervisor District 1
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Vicinity Map
2. Conditions of Approval
3. Agency Comments
4. Site Plan
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On November 8, 2018, the Planning Commission approved Use Permit UP 18-16, also known as "Garden 1' on the subject site. The application was for 10,000 sq. ft. of 'mixed light' (greenhouse) cultivation.
On December 15, 2020, the County received an application for a modification to the cultivation area to enable outdoor cultivation rather than inside of greenhouses; this is to occur inside the original footprint of file no. UP 18-16. The applicant is also proposing a 36.5' x 90' area for immature plants that was not part of the original approval.
The 330 acre subject site takes access from Big Valley Road, a paved, County-maintained road in this location. The site was used for decades as a resort (Howard Hot Springs, then Avalon Hot Springs), and the site has been extensively disturbed over time. The original project was categorically exempted from CEQA due to the extent of historical disturbance that had occurred on the site.
The applicant had provided a stormwater mitigation plan that shows the method of on-site water retention and channelization. There is a class 1 (perineal) stream on the southern end of the site (Big Canyon Creek); a class 2 unnamed seasonal stream transecting the middle of the site in a north-south direction, and a class 3 unnamed watercourse on the northern portion of the site. Garden 1 is not located within 100 feet of these drainage courses, and will have no impact on them. Garden 1 was o...
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