CANNABIS AND HEMP BUSINESS LAW FIRM SERVING THE NORTH COAST
Cannabis Business Attorney Serving the North Coast, California
The Law Office of Shay Aaron Gilmore has donated hundreds of hours of pro-bono legal services to the cannabis social equity movement, helped dozens of businesses procure or maintain state and local commercial cannabis licenses and permits throughout California, and successfully closed millions of dollars in mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions for cannabis and hemp investor and operator clients.
A California attorney for over 20 years, established as a California cannabis and hemp law leader focused on the North Coast, Shay Aaron Gilmore provides proven legal solutions for investors and operators to launch, fund and grow ventures in compliance with the cannabis and hemp industries’ ever-changing laws, regulations and policies.
The Law Office of Shay Aaron Gilmore Practice Areas in the North Coast, California
The Law Office of Shay Aaron Gilmore supports the ongoing success of our North Coast cannabis and hemp industry clients in the following practice areas, providing our North Coast operator and investor clients with customized knowledge and cost-effective legal counsel tailored to reach their specific goals:
Shay volunteers as an active member and leader of top trade and professional organizations like the National Cannabis Industry Association, the California Cannabis Industry Association, and the International Cannabis Bar Association. Shay founded the Cannabis Practitioners Group of the California Lawyers Association, and he is a longtime member of California NORML’s Legal Committee. The Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal has named Shay to its list of the Top 20 Cannabis Lawyers in California. Shay has been recognized by Super Lawyers® Magazine as a Northern California Super Lawyer in Cannabis Law and in Business & Corporate Law, and as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Northern California across all practice areas.
North Coast Cannabis Business Resources
Whether you are new to the California cannabis industry or are an established California operator or investor expanding your business or investment into the North Coast, understanding the legal requirements and regulations impacting the local cannabis industry is vital to your success. Here are just a few local resources for cannabis businesses to use in answering questions regarding cannabis legislation, enforcement and regulation in North Coast jurisdictions.
- City of Arcata Cannabis Permit
- City of Rio Dell Cannabis Land Use Ordinance
- City of Eureka Cannabis Program
- Humboldt County Cannabis Licensing & Regulations
- Humboldt County Commercial Marijuana Permitting
- Lake County Cannabis Webpage
- City of Clearlake Commercial Cannabis
- City of Lakeport Cannabis Regulations
- Mendocino County Cannabis Department
- City of Fort Bragg Municipal Code Ch. 9.30
- City of Point Arena Ordinance No. 232
- City of Ukiah Cannabis Regulations
- City of Willits Cannabis Activity Program
If you have specific questions or concerns in the North Coast, The Law Office of Shay Aaron Gilmore can provide customized legal solutions for your cannabis business and investment needs.
Contact The Law Office of Shay Aaron Gilmore today!
Contact our North Coast cannabis and hemp law specialists today by phone at (415) 846-6397 or online so you can fully and compliantly align your business and/or investment interests in the California cannabis and hemp industries.
Frequently Asked Questions
To get a cannabis license on the North Coast, you must first obtain approval from the local government with jurisdiction over the physical location of your cannabis business, such as the City of Eureka, the City of Lakeport, the City of Ukiah, or the county governments of Humboldt County, Lake County, or Mendocino County. Step 1 in how to get a cannabis license in California is always completing local permitting, and those processes differ significantly from city to city and between incorporated and unincorporated areas on the North Coast.
Not every North Coast jurisdiction allows all types of commercial cannabis activity. Before investing in a site or submitting an application, a prospective licensee should confirm whether retail, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, or testing is permitted in the specific city or county area. Once all required land‑use approvals and local cannabis permits are in place, you can then submit a state license application to the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) that is stacked on top of your local authorization.
The process of getting a cannabis growers license on the North Coast starts with local cultivation approval in the county or city where the cultivation site will operate, followed by a state cultivation license from the DCC. Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino counties each control what types of commercial cannabis cultivation (if any) are allowed in their unincorporated areas, and North Coast cities overlay their own zoning and permitting requirements on top of county rules.
A cultivator must first verify that commercial cannabis cultivation is allowed at the target location, determine which state license types (indoor, mixed‑light, or outdoor; small, medium, or specialty canopy) the local jurisdiction will support, and obtain all necessary zoning approvals, use permits, and local cannabis business licenses. After securing local authorization, the cultivator can then submit a DCC cultivation application with site plans, water and environmental information, California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documentation, and proof of local approval.
Before growing industrial hemp on the North Coast, a grower must register with the agricultural commissioner in each county where hemp will be planted—Lake County or Mendocino County—and then submit registration information to the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA). This process can take several weeks from the initial submission to the county agricultural commissioner through CDFA’s review and issuance of the industrial hemp registration, and timelines vary by county based on local staffing and review procedures.
Lake County requires an industrial hemp permit and a hemp zoning permit from the Agriculture Department before a grower can obtain CDFA registration, and notes that permitting and inspections “can take up to several months” to complete. Mendocino County also requires industrial hemp growers and breeders to register with the county agricultural commissioner under its industrial hemp ordinance. By contrast, Humboldt County has enacted an ordinance that prohibits cultivation of industrial hemp in the unincorporated area, so growers cannot currently obtain industrial hemp registration there.
Under CDFA’s statewide rules, each hemp grower must submit a nine‑hundred dollar (US $900) registration fee per applicant with the industrial hemp grower application, in addition to any local fees charged by the county agricultural commissioner on the North Coast. Lake County’s industrial hemp program requires a county industrial hemp permit and zoning permit in addition to the CDFA registration, with separate county fees and, in some cases, a surety bond requirement as part of the Lake County industrial hemp permit process. Mendocino County’s industrial hemp ordinance likewise imposes local registration and compliance requirements above the statewide baseline, and growers should budget for both state and county costs when planning an industrial hemp operation there.
Because Humboldt County currently bans industrial hemp cultivation in the unincorporated area, hemp growers cannot obtain local registration or pay hemp grower fees in Humboldt unless the county changes its ordinance in the future. Prospective North Coast hemp growers should confirm both CDFA’s $900 registration fee and all current county‑level fees and conditions directly with the relevant agricultural commissioner’s office before finalizing project budgets.