Commercial cannabis cultivation, retail dispensaries and manufacturing could come to Rancho Santa Fe and other unincorporated San Diego County communities after the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 on Wednesday, Aug. 19, to advance its Socially Equitable Cannabis Program, according to The Coast News.
The decision overrode opposition from every community planning group in the unincorporated area, including the San Dieguito Planning Group that covers Rancho Santa Fe. Because Rancho Santa Fe is unincorporated territory, the Board of Supervisors, not a city council, controls its land-use and zoning decisions directly.
Supervisors Paloma Aguirre, Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Monica Montgomery Steppe voted in favor. Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond voted against.
"This has to be the most twisted term of equity that I've ever seen," Desmond said before casting his no vote, arguing the policy lets people who broke the law jump ahead in the permit line.
San Dieguito Planning Group Vice Chair Beth Nelson spoke against the program at the Aug. 19 public hearing, where more than 50 residents testified. "We don't want it and we didn't ask for it," Nelson told the board, adding she has no issue with cannabis for legitimate medical use.
What the program allows
The board approved Alternative 2, the least restrictive option recommended by county staff, which permits indoor and outdoor cannabis cultivation, retail dispensaries, manufacturing, distribution, testing labs, consumption lounges, temporary events and microbusinesses across 28 unincorporated communities spanning roughly 772,239 acres.
The plan requires a 600-foot buffer between cannabis facilities and schools, day cares and youth centers. The board rejected the Planning Commission's recommendations for a ban on outdoor cultivation and a larger 1,000-foot buffer that would have also included places of worship, public parks and trails.
The county's own environmental impact report classified Alternative 2's impacts as "significant and unavoidable" in categories including air quality, water quality, noise, transportation and public services. The report acknowledged that Alternative 4, an indoor-only cultivation option the San Dieguito Planning Group endorsed in a 9-1 vote in March 2025, was "the environmentally superior alternative," according to The Coast News.
County projections estimate up to 372 cultivation sites and 170 non-cultivation licenses by 2044 under the approved plan.
Years of local opposition
The program originated in January 2021, when the board directed staff to develop a cannabis licensing framework with a social equity component giving priority to individuals with prior cannabis-related arrests and those in low-income, high-arrest communities.
At the San Dieguito Planning Group's Feb. 12 meeting, Nelson reported that all planning groups in the unincorporated area opposed the program and that supervisors had chosen to advance the least restrictive option anyway.
Supervisor Aguirre acknowledged concerns about safety, odor, water use and environmental impacts but said, "Regulation is how we address them."
What's next
The board will hold a second hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 2, before final approval. If adopted, the program takes effect 30 days later. Residents can attend or submit comments at that hearing.
