A proposed cannabis processing and distribution facility near Fortuna is dead. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Thursday to deny the conditional use permit, overturning a planning commission recommendation that had approved the project 4-1 in January.

Supervisors Rex Bohn, Mike Wilson, and Steve Madrone voted to deny. Chair Michelle Estrada and Natalie Arroyo voted to approve.

The applicant, NorCal Processing LLC, had proposed converting a 6,200-square-foot industrial building on Kenmar Road into a licensed cannabis manufacturing and distribution hub. The facility would have processed raw cannabis into concentrates, edibles, and pre-rolls under DCC Type 7 and Type 11 manufacturing licenses.

Neighbor opposition

Seventeen residents from the Kenmar Road area and adjacent neighborhoods testified against the project. Their concerns centered on three things: truck traffic, odor, and property values.

“I moved here to get away from all that,” said Linda Garrett, who lives 400 feet from the proposed site. “I don’t care if it’s legal. I don’t want extraction vans running past my house at six in the morning.”

The applicant’s traffic study projected 8 to 12 vehicle trips per day, a figure opponents called an undercount. Several residents said they’d observed existing cannabis operations in the county generating far more traffic than their permits anticipated.

Odor was the most emotional issue. NorCal Processing had committed to a carbon filtration system rated for 99.2% terpene removal. The planning commission found this adequate. Neighbors did not.

“Ninety-nine percent doesn’t mean zero,” said Bill Hauser, a retired engineer who presented his own calculations suggesting detectable odor at 200 feet under certain wind conditions. “I know what that stuff smells like. You can’t filter it all.”

The zoning question

The Kenmar Road property is zoned Industrial General (IG), which permits manufacturing uses. Cannabis manufacturing is conditionally allowed in IG zones under the county’s cannabis land use ordinance. The planning commission found the project consistent with the general plan and zoning code.

The board disagreed. Wilson argued that the 2018 cannabis ordinance’s conditional use process was designed to give the board discretion, and that discretion should account for neighborhood context.

“Just because something’s technically allowed doesn’t mean it’s a good idea in every location,” Wilson said. “This is a residential-adjacent industrial zone. The spirit of conditional use is that you consider the conditions.”

Estrada pushed back. “We set up a process. The applicant followed the process. The planning commission followed the process. If we override every time the neighbors show up, what’s the point of having a process?”

She was outvoted.

Applicant response

NorCal Processing co-founder James Whitfield said the company spent $180,000 on the application, environmental review, and facility design. He called the denial “a political decision, not a planning decision.”

“We met every code requirement. Every single one,” Whitfield said after the vote. “The planning commission agreed. The planning staff agreed. But three supervisors decided that loud neighbors matter more than their own rules.”

Whitfield said the company is evaluating its options, including a potential appeal. The denial can be challenged in court on grounds that the board acted arbitrarily or contrary to its own ordinance.

The county attorney’s office declined to comment on potential litigation.

Broader pattern

This is the third cannabis-related conditional use permit denial by the board in the past 18 months. Two cultivation permits near Willow Creek were denied in 2025 under similar circumstances: planning commission approval followed by board reversal after public opposition.

Cannabis industry advocates say the pattern is discouraging investment. “Nobody’s going to spend six figures on an application if the answer is always no at the last step,” said Natalynne DeLapp, executive director of the Humboldt County Growers Alliance. “The board needs to decide whether they actually want a legal cannabis industry or just want to say they have one.”