Under threat of shutdown, Carpinteria pot growers rush to install new odor-control technology | Local News
Publish Date: 2026-06-15 20:30:00
Source Domain: santamariatimes.com
More than a year ago, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors threatened to revoke the business license of every cannabis greenhouse operator in the Carpinteria Valley who failed to install state-of-the-art technology to control the stench of pot.
The deadline for compliance was March 18 this year, and the board turned down all requests for extensions. At the time, fully half of the 22 cannabis growers in the valley, a Mecca for the indoor industry, were operating with no odor control systems inside their greenhouses. The “skunky” smell of pot was escaping through the open roof vents and into people’s homes.
As the March deadline came and went, the County Executive Office mailed out notices of “intent to revoke” business licenses, and hearing dates were set for appeals in Los Angeles. A sort of last-minute stampede occurred, as growers rushed to install clean-air equipment and avoid a shutdown.
Among the last to join in, the record shows, were Graham Farrar and Kyle Kazan, the owners of G&K Produce and K&G Flowers, respectively, at 3561 Foothill Rd. That seven-acre “grow” has triggered hundreds of odor complaints filed by Carpinterians with the county during the past eight years, county data show.
As of this month, county officials said, Farrar and Kazan have installed some, but not all, of the high-tech odor-control equipment they will need.
Today, only one grower is operating with no odor control inside her greenhouses, records show, and that is Heather Abdo, the owner of Bosim 1628 Management Co., a five-acre “grow” at 1628 Cravens Ln. Abdo’s appeal of the county’s notice was heard on June 1 by an administrative law judge with the Los Angeles Office of Administrative Hearings. The judge has 30 days to rule in the case.
Collin Dvorak, the owner of Pacific Grown Organics at 5892 Via Real, is scheduled for an…
