Because Cannabis is Illegal under Federal Law, Conditional Use Permit for Cultivation Cannot Be Granted over Servient Tenement Owner's Objection

In JCCrandell, LLC v. County of Santa Barbara, published October 29, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 6 reversed a trial court decision denying a petition for administrative mandate.  A company applied to the respondent county for a conditional use permit to cultivate cannabis.  The holder of the land on which cultivation would take place consented to the cultivation.  The site is zoned for agriculture.  The only access to the parcel is an easement owned by the petitioner.  The petitioner objected to issuance of the CUP.  The county issued the CUP over the objection.  The petitioner sought a writ of administrative mandate on grounds including that the use of the easement for cannabis activities is prohibited by federal law.  The trial court denied the petition.  It ruled the county's decision did not involve a vested interest, and so was subject to substantial evidence review; and that substantial evidence supported the decision.

The appellate court ruled that the trial court applied the wrong standard of review.  The petitioner's right to exclude an unauthorized person from its property is a fundamental vested right.  Therefore, the independent judgment standard of review is the proper standard.  Under that standard, the county erred, because cannabis is illegal.  Under federal law, cannabis is illegal in every state and territory of the United States.  Under the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, federal laws  are the supreme law of the land.  Civil Code section 1550.5, subdivision (b) provides commercial activity relating to medicinal or adult-use cannabis is the lawful object of a contract, not contrary to law, and not contrary to public policy.  The court ruled that the subdivision defies the Supremacy Clause.   "No matter how much California voters and the Legislature might try," the court ruled, "cannabis cultivation and transportation are illegal in California as long as it remains illegal under federal law."  It cannot be used to force a landowner to allow its property to be used for cannabis cultivation.