North County groups resist cannabis 

A few dozen people inside Creston Community Church erupted in applause on June 19.

A San Luis Obispo County official just told them that two cannabis projects proposed near their small North County town were dead because the applicants had withdrawn them.

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• Photo By Peter Johnson
• CANNABIS DISCUSSION Creston Advisory Group delegates and 5th District SLO County Supervisor Debbie Arnold (right) talk about the emerging cannabis industry and other local issues on June 19.

Though locals were happy about the two projects that are now off the table, a handful of others are still active and moving through the county's cannabis review process.

Attendees at this June 19 Creston Advisory Body meeting said they have felt blindsided by the incoming industry, overwhelmed by its complex regulatory system, and relatively powerless to fight or control it.

As the battle continues over what kind of legal cannabis activity should be allowed in unincorporated SLO County, rural community groups like the Creston Advisory Body hope to have a strong voice in the debate.

Murray Powell, a Templeton Area Advisory Group (TAAG) delegate, attended the June 19 Creston meeting and suggested that advisory groups in North County come together to form a unified coalition on cannabis. The Creston delegates, led by chairperson Sheila Lyons, agreed it was a good idea. North County has five community advisory groups representing Santa Margarita, Creston, Templeton, Shandon, and San Miguel.

"If we can coordinate these community advisory councils, we can maybe exert a little more influence," Powell said. Δ