Bay City Hemp Flower markets land for cannabis

As Bay City Flower Co. nears its final day of operation, much of the land it has occupied is up
for sale. And property owners, who said they couldn’t afford to operate
a floraculture business on the coast, could be in for a windfall.

The four properties combined could sell for as much as $80 million, and
three of these properties are marketed as available for cannabis or hemp
cultivation, according to listings on the commercial real estate
listing site LoopNet.

As cannabis cultivation continues to raise land prices in some areas and
affect the agricultural landscape across the state, counties are
experimenting with ordinances to regulate the industry and protect
existing agriculture.

The flower company’s executives declined to comment, but its initial published
statement said company operations were too expensive to continue. As a
result, hundreds of local people lost their jobs.

The closure of a floraculture business on the coast is nothing new. It
follows with historical trends that have affected the flower industry
for years. What has changed is the legal status of cannabis.

The Bay City Flower property listings say, “cannabis cultivation is
permitted per San Mateo” and the property is “excellent for cannabis or
hemp” or “this property is approved for use as a cannabis nursery and
for hemp.”

Although the properties that lie outside city boundaries are designated as
agricultural lands, any would-be grower would have to go through the
county’s extensive licensing requirements to know for certain. San Mateo
County Senior Planner Michael Schaller said some of Bay City’s parcels
could be too close to residentially zoned properties or have issues with
water sources. These are factors that would be considered in the
licensing process. Schaller said he’s received general inquiries about
one of the properties that is under contract at the time of this
article.

“The first six months or so after the (cannabis) ordinance passed, there was
a sense of ‘it’s a new gold rush,’” Schaller said. “It’s tapered out in
the last six months.”