Fillmore on Tuesday night became the third city in Ventura County with a temporary ban on industrial hemp farming, a move that could trip up a local farmer who wants to plant hemp in greenhouses on his property.

The council voted 4-1, with Councilwoman Lynn Edmonds dissenting, to institute a 45-day moratorium on growing, selling, storing or processing industrial hemp within city limits. The ban also applies to the sale of hemp-derived CBD products at businesses that get more then 5% of their business from those sales.

The council can vote before the 45-day ban expires to extend it by 10 months and 15 days. Council members said on Tuesday that they want to use the time to draft permanent regulations that limit the impacts of hemp growing on people who live near the farms. Odor from the plants is the primary complaint. Hemp has the same skunk-like scent as marijuana, though hemp’s odor is usually not as strong.

© JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Martin Mota clears grass between rows of industrial hemp plants at McGrath Family Farms in Camarillo.

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“The growing of cannabis is unlike any other agricultural crop, and because of that there needs to be significant deliberation on how to properly regulate it,” Fillmore Councilman Manuel Minjares said. “Its proximity to densely populated cities like Fillmore is problematic. There’s definitely a need for buffer zones.”

Industrial hemp comes from the same type of cannabis plant that produces marijuana. The difference is that hemp isn’t intoxicating; it is bred to have almost no THC, the chemical responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive effects.

Hemp grown in Ventura County is used primarily for CBD oil that goes into food, drinks and dietary supplements. Food, clothing, industrial fiber and other products can also be made from hemp.

Hemp was recently legalized at the state and federal levels, and 2019 is the first year with a major harvest in Ventura County. Growers planted around 3,000 acres this year, and revenues could top $100 million.

But the future of the crop here is uncertain. The cities of Moorpark and Thousand Oaks have instituted temporary bans due to complaints about the odor, while the Camarillo City Council rejected such a ban.

The county of Ventura is considering regulations that would include buffers between hemp farms and residential areas. Nearly all of the hemp grown in the county is grown in county unincorporated areas, not in cities like Fillmore. The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday supported the adoption of such zones. An ordinance establishing the buffers is expected to return to the board Jan. 14.

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Only one grower in Fillmore has applied for a permit to grow hemp: Steiger Farms, owned by William Steiger and his son Charles Steiger. The Steigers grow oranges and want to put about 20 acres of hemp greenhouses on their property, which is partially in the city and partially in the county.

If it’s extended beyond 45 days, the Fillmore moratorium could stop them from growing hemp on the city portion of their property. Even if it’s only 45 days, it might interfere with the investments they’ve been lining up for the project, Charles Steiger said after the council vote.

Putting ‘reasonable rules in place’

Before the council voted, the Steigers each addressed the council and asked members to reject the ban. They said their greenhouses, with carbon air filters, would not produce anywhere near the odor produced by hemp in open fields, which is how the crop is usually grown.

Crime is another concern. There have been reports of thefts and attempted thefts of industrial hemp from the fields, perhaps by people who thought it was psychoactive marijuana. The Steigers said their greenhouses would be behind locked gates and would have a security system.

“We want our land, which is a slowly dying orchard, to be viable,” Charles Steiger said. “Rather than a complete moratorium in place, why not put in work to do a mutually beneficial set of regulations?”

Tiffany Israel, Fillmore’s city attorney, told the council that a temporary ban will allow the city to put “reasonable rules in place.”

In other business on Tuesday, the council selected its mayor and mayor pro tem for the coming year. Councilman Tim Holmgren was chosen as mayor and Councilman Mark Austin was selected as mayor pro tem, which means he fills in when the mayor can’t fulfill his duties.

Like most Ventura County cities, Fillmore does not elect a mayor. Instead, the council chooses a mayor each year from among its members. The mayor runs the council meetings but otherwise has the same authority as any other member.

Tony Biasotti is a freelance writer for The Star.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Fillmore latest city to temporarily ban industrial hemp farming