Bennett Valley Conservancy Fund

 Join us at the Bennett Valley Grange to Discuss Two Major Land Use Issues Impacting Our Community which could have many negative impacts for decades to come:

•    Update on the County’s Cannabis Ordinance: We will provide an update on the Cannabis ordinance and discuss how it could impact neighborhoods throughout Bennett Valley if the current draft is passed. Speaker: Craig Harrison, BVCA Past President and Chair of Bennett Valley Conservancy Fund.

•    Insights on Measure J: We will also hear from speakers regarding Measure J and its potential impact on the preservation of agricultural land and associated open spaces in Bennett Valley and countywide. Measure J is on the ballot on November 5th.

Speaker: Dayna Ghirardelli, Executive Director, Sonoma County Farm Bureau.

Event Details:

•       Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 7:00pm-8:30pm (Doors open 6pm*)

•       Bennett Valley Grange Hall, 4145 Grange Road, Santa Rosa

•       FREE Event

•       First come, first served. 130 attendee capacity event. 

•       * 6:00pm Pre-event Social & Discussion Session regarding Health Impacts on Neighbors of Outdoor Cannabis Production Sites and Societal Health Impacts of Cannabis Consumption. Come early for light refreshments/snacks and hear from Neighborhood Coalition’s Libby Hutton, one of the group's specialists on cannabis health impacts. Libby will provide an overview of what health risks and environmental impacts are involved with living next to outdoor cannabis operations and the broader societal health risks of cannabis consumption.

Measure J background:

Today, Sonoma County Family Farmers are under attack. Measure J, proposed by a group from Berkeley, CA, aims to eliminate Sonoma County’s diverse animal agriculture production. If passed, Measure J could put multi-generational farming families out of business and as a result, the cost of dairy products, eggs, and poultry will increase significantly. Furthermore, Measure J will increase our greenhouse gas emissions since these products will have to be imported from other parts of our state, country or even other countries. Measure J will cost taxpayers millions. 

Visit for more information: NoOnMeasureJ.com

Last week Permit Sonoma posted background information on the revised cannabis ordinance, which you can find here.

Two meetings are scheduled on Wednesday, December 13, to explain the key changes that the county will study in the environmental impact report. One will be in person at the Board of Supervisors chambers from 5:30 - 6:30 pm. The second will be a Zoom call from 7:00 - 8:00 pm. Identical information will be presented at the meetings. Register for the Zoom webinar here. 

While the county’s stated goal is to enhance neighborhood compatibility and environmental protections, it ignores Einstein’s observation that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The proposal will exacerbate the current program’s failures and neighborhood conflicts. It will allow cannabis cultivation to be scattered all over the county even though the Agricultural Commissioner reported in November that cultivation dropped 80% from 2021 to 2022 and was 9 acres.

If only 9 acres – or 40 acres – is to be grown in Sonoma County, why not identify a handful of large appropriate sites and limit cultivation to those locations?

The county lowered cultivation taxes, and now our property and sales taxes subsidize cultivation. What benefit does this activity provide?

The county pretends to improve compatibility by designating some “neighborhood enclaves” (exclusion zones), but virtually all designated parcels in them are already excluded from marijuana cultivation because they are zoned rural residential or agricultural residential. This is disingenuous. 

The county refuses to study the possibility of creating an exclusion zone in any part of Bennett Valley, despite six organizations requesting that commercial marijuana be forbidden within the Bennett Valley Area Plan. 

Some of the proposal’s worst features are:

•    No analysis of the exposure to the public of the carcinogen beta-myrcene (the skunky odor) that cannabis plants emit. Does Sonoma County really think that commercial marijuana cultivation is more important than the health of its residents?

•    It reduces the minimum lot size for cultivation from 10 acres to 5 acres, expanding commercial cultivation to small parcels near residences.

•    It allows retail and events at grow sites. Retail sites in Santa Rosa and Bay Area cities are frequent targets of armed robberies. Rural retail sites will invite urban criminals here because there is no effective law enforcement.

•    It redefines cannabis as an agricultural use, violating state law.

It is important for you to comment on this approach at cannabis@sonoma-county.org 

Donations to the Bennett Valley Conservancy to support legal and consultant efforts would be much appreciated.

Commercial Marijuana Properties in Bennett Valley.

The only commercial marijuana site in Bennett Valley in 2023 was a one-acre outdoor cultivation project at 2274 Wellspring Road (off Bennett Valley Road). It was particularly stinky this autumn, with complaints from residents on Matanzas Creek Lane, Bennett Ridge, Savannah Estates, and Sonoma Mountain Road. The skunky odor is a terpene called beta-myrcene, which EPA and California deem to be a carcinogen. If the county finalizes its approach, this site might be allowed to grow six times as much marijuana and subject much of Bennett Valley to carcinogens for weeks at a time in late summer and autumn. If it is allowed to host events, armed robberies might become commonplace in Bennett Valley.

In 2023 the BVCA created the Conservancy Fund to provide financial resources to protect Bennett Valley from commercial developments that violate our Bennett Valley Area Plan (BVAP). The BVAP was approved by the board of supervisors in 1979. It is the result of residents who are passionate about preserving our rural and peaceful community, our flora and fauna, wildlife corridors, and scarce water resources. The BVCA is committed to preserving the Bennett Valley we all know and love.

Today the County is pushing to attract and permit unsightly commercial and retail cannabis operations in Bennett Valley, which are blatant violations of our BVAP. The commercial and industrial developments masquerade as “farming.” The BVCA opposes commercial development from changing Bennett Valley forever.

Your donation to the Conservancy Fund provides financial resources to hire lawyers and expert consultants to resist the County’s misguided policies.