Chair Zoller and Commissioners,

To be approved, the Major Use Permit application for East Side Farms, Inc. Ross Cunningham PL-25-243 (UP 24-20), must meet the following requirements (e.g. Lake County Article 27, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). At present, information required for permit approval is missing:

1. Required recorded easement for access to project site—missing.
The posted project documents for the Commission’s permit hearing do not include the recorded easement(1) “that allows for, but not limited to, delivery trucks, emergency vehicles, sheriff and other law enforcement officers, and government employees who are responsible for inspection or enforcement actions” to the project site from a county-maintained road.

2. Minimum Fire Safe Road Requirements must be met.
County of Lake 2025 State & Local Minimum Fire Safe Regulation Guide(2) applies to all roads, and driveways, whether public or private, unless exempted under 14 CCR §1270.03(d). Roads, unless exempt, must have a minimum of two 10-foot traffic lanes—from the County-maintained road to the project site.

The access road does not qualify for an exemption from the requirement because it will be used for a commercial purpose. Similarly, the access road does not meet the Public Resource Code 4290 definition of a driveway because it serves a commercial use.

3. Road surface requirement must be met.
The County of Lake 2025 State & Local Minimum Fire Safe Regulation Guide requires roads to have an aggregate base(3). County GIS photos of the project parcels show a dirt road from Jerusalem Grade to the project site. At this moment, I don’t know if Jerusalem Grade is a county-maintained road with aggregate base.

4. The State’s minimum fire-safe requirement must be met without delay.
According to Cal-Fire(4), “All private property roads / access used for this project shall meet minimum Fire Safe standards for emergency vehicle ingress and egress.” Cal-Fire advises, “If the AHJ [Authority Having Jurisdiction] chooses to not enforce minimum fire safe standards during the permit process that is required by the State Fire Safe Regulations (Title 14, PRC 4290 et'al), they are accepting all responsibility for not requiring the applicant to follow minimum State Fire Safe Regulations required in the SRA.”

Community Development Department (CDD) places tremendous responsibility or burden on the County if CDD disregards minimum State Fire Safe Regulations required in the State Responsibility Area (SRA).

5. CEQA requires examination of cumulative impacts—such as water availability.
For the Middletown Area, water availability is a critical issue. The project’s hydrology report does not use the well testing method recommended by environmental professional Peggie King. Project well-yield tests ran for three hours not the recommended consecutive 24 hours “to accurately reflect the drawdown and recovery of the well(5).”

The County does not have safe yield (water availability) data for the County’s aquifers and water basins. There are two pending and five approved cannabis projects within a mile radius of the project. There are seven pending and 11 approved projects within a three-mile radius of the project. Yet CDD does not provide the estimated and actual (when available) water usage and water availability of the nearby cannabis projects.

The project’s hydrology report acknowledges four cannabis projects within its defined Cumulative Impact Area (CIA); three of the projects belong to East Side Farms. CDD’s claim that this project’s water usage impact on the environment is “less than significant” with mitigation is incredible; there aren’t supporting data for sustained water availability for the project, as required by CEQA.

6. Biological Resources Assessment (BRA) recommendation not included as Condition of Approval—tree protection.
While not a requirement, as a proactive measure, the biologist who conducted the BRA recommended tree removal measures(6) if the project’s future plans included tree removal. The BRA noted that the project site is in a Blue Oaks Savannah. Blue Oaks are vulnerable to uninformed tree removal; as slow growers, a mature Blue Oak may not meet minimum diameter at breast height requirements prohibiting their removal.

Since 2022, the Board of Supervisors’ monthly proclamation of a local emergency due to pervasive tree mortality reflects the County’s priority to protect trees. Including the biologist’s recommended approach to future tree removal as a Condition of Approval is a simple way to ensure the survival of trees.

7. Requirement: identify project permit applicant(s).
One of the Biological Resource Assessments (March 19, 2026) was prepared for California Cannabis Consultants. What is this organization’s relationship to the project? If it is a principle or partner, it should be identified as such in the project application. And its principals are subject to background check. It is common for a report title page to acknowledge that the report was prepared for the project applicant and or landowner not a consultant.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Margaux Kambara
Lake County Resident
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(1) Lake County Article 27 Uses Generally Permitted, p. 27-118, p. 27-119.

(2) “These regulations apply to the perimeters and access to all residential, commercial, and industrial building construction within state responsibility areas approved after January 1, 1991, and within lands classified and designated as very high fire hazard severity zones, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 51177 of the Government Code after July 1, 2021.
“Article 2 Ingress and Egress § 1273.00. Intent
“Roads, and Driveways, whether public or private, unless exempted under 14 CCR § 1270.03(d), shall provide for safe access for emergency Wildfire equipment and civilian evacuation concurrently, and shall provide unobstructed traffic circulation during a Wildfire emergency consistent with 14 CCR §§ 1273.00 through 1273.09. § 1273.01. Width. (a) All roads shall be constructed to provide a minimum of two ten (10) foot traffic lanes, not including shoulder and striping. These traffic lanes shall provide for two-way traffic flow to support emergency vehicle and civilian egress, unless other standards are provided in this article, or additional requirements are mandated by Local Jurisdictions or local subdivision requirements. Vertical clearances shall conform to the requirements in California Vehicle Code section 35250. (b) All One-way Roads shall be constructed to provide a minimum of one twelve (12) foot traffic lane, not including Shoulders. The Local Jurisdiction may approve One-way Roads.”

(3) “§ 1273.02. Road Surface (a) Roads shall be designed and maintained to support the imposed load of Fire Apparatus weighing at least 75,000 pounds and provide an aggregate base. (b) Road and Driveway Structures shall be designed and maintained to support at least 40,000 pounds. Aggregrate (c) Project proponent shall provide engineering specifications to support design, if requested by the Local Jurisdiction.” County of Lake 2025 State & Local Minimum Fire Safe Regulation Guide

(4) Cal-Fire letter to Planner Schaefers Lake County Community Development Department, regarding Lake Coco Farms Major Use Permit application (undated).

(5) Peggie King, Cannabis Policy Recommendations to Lake County Planning Commission (June 12, 2025).

(6) “Recommendation 4: If any oak trees larger than 6 inches diameter at breast height (DBH) are required to be removed in the future, trees should be replaced onsite with identical species at a 3:1 ratio for DBH between 6 and 12 inches, 6:1 for DBH between 12 and 24 inches, and 15:1 for DBH over 24 inches. Trees should be irrigated or watered regularly for the first two years and monitored for five years. Any trees that die before the 5 year monitoring period should be replaced.” Pinecrest Research Corporation, Inc., “Biological Resources Assessment & Special-Status Plant Species Report, 23071-23143 Jerusalem Grade APN 013-015-36, 013-015-39, 013-015-40, 013-015-43 & 013-015-57” Lake County, California (March 19, 2026)