Below is the write-up by the newspaper!
Massive grow proposed for Manila mill
October 27, 2021Jack Durham Mad River Union
MANILA – A company has submitted applications to build a gigantic cannabis farm with three-story-tall buildings at the former Sierra Pacific Industries mill in Manila.
Humboldt Bay Company LLC hopes to develop the site with 6.7 acres of buildings for growing cannabis along with buildings for volatile and non-volatile manufacturing, testing, trimming, packaging and distribution. The operation would have as many as 163 employees and would be in operation seven days a week.
Humboldt Bay Company LLC, based in Los Alamitos in Orange County, Calif, hopes to begin construction in the coming year.
But before it does so, it will need to obtain a conditional use permit from the County of Humboldt and a Coastal Development Permit from the California Coastal Commission.
The buildings
GREEN FACADE
Portions of the buildings facing the highway will have vertical gardens on the outside featuring native plants. Via permit application
The old mill, which closed in 2016, has several dilapidated buildings covered in graffiti.
The cannabis operation would drastically change the site’s appearance, with several three-story-tall buildings, new fencing and new gates.
Buildings facing State Route 255 would feature “green facades,” with native plants growing vertically on the sides of buildings.
Juvenile cannabis plants would be propagated in an 18,000-square-foot nursery, then transferred to a 24,796-square-foot vegetative building. These two buildings would take up nearly an acre.
After a few weeks, when the plants are big enough, they would be transfered to either the indoor cultivation buildings or mixed-light greenhouses.
There would be four three-story-tall indoor cultivation buildings, which would take up 5.4 acres.
One building would measure 128 feet by 415 feet, while another would measure
110 feet by 160 feet. A third building would have irregular dimensions.
The mixed-light greenhouses would cover about 1.3 acres. There would be seven greenhouses 42 feet wide and with lengths ranging between 115 feet and 380 feet in length, according to Humboldt Bay Company LLC’s “Operations Manual,” which was submitted as part of its application to the county.
ENTRANCE TO GROW This rendering shows the entrance to the grow from State Route 255. The building in the foreground is the nursery, with vertical gardens growing on its walls. Via permit application
The greenhouses would be fully automated, with automatic black-out tarps and drip irrigation systems.
An existing 5,000-square-foot- building at the site would be upgraded and used for trimming and processing the cannabis. About 2,000-square-feet of space would be remodeled in an existing storage building and used as a distribution space.
An existing truck shop building would be modified to provide 3,500 space for manufacturing, using both volatile and non volatile methods. A cannabis testing lab would also be built at the truck shop.
‘Zero light shall escape’
The company’s Operations Plan indicates that light pollution will not be an issue.
“Indoor cultivation will be located inside a structure, allowing for no light to escape,” states the Operations Plan. “The mixed-light cultivation areas, which will use supplemental lighting, will be enclosed in automated greenhouses to achieve Dark Sky standards and protect surrounding habitat. If the automated greenhouse fails, an opaque covering will manually be pulled across all light-emitting sources. Zero light shall escape all structures between sunset and sunrise. Any proposed security lighting will be downcast and not visible from neighboring properties.”
Water use
The Manila Community Services District Board of Directors reviewed the application at its Oct. 21 meeting,
“Our interest begins and ends with water and wastewater,” said Manila CSD Manger Chris Drop.
The district provided water and sewer service to the Sierra Pacific Mill before it closed in 2016.
The cannabis grow is expected to use 16 million gallons of water a year, a 23 percent increase for the Manila district, which buys water from the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, the region’s wholesale supplier.
With the grow expected to employ from 131 to 163 employees, this is the residential equivalent of 37 to 46 single-family residences.
The grow operation will recirculate its irrigation water and may include a 100,000-gallon rain catchment system. About 50 percent of the irrigation water will be recycled from the operation’s dehumidifiers.
The Manila CSD will further discuss how much it will charge the company for water and sewer service at an upcoming meeting.
Kayak launch
The old mill site is adjacent to a popular kayak launch site alongside Mad River Slough and State Route 255. The area is unimproved, with just a gravel lot.
Annjanette Dodd of NorthPoint Consulting Group, which is representing Humboldt Bay Company LLC, told the Manila board that the project will include improvements to the kayak launch area, although the details have yet to be worked out.
Link to original online article here.
