Thanks to a settlement with several property owners, a wrecking ball is about to hit one California county's cannabis code-enforcement scheme—a system that piled ruinous fines on people for violations they say they did not actually commit.
Corrine and Doug Thomas, two of the plaintiffs, were staring down more than $1 million in civil penalties. That came with a twist. Humboldt County, California, said their property's previous owner, Summerville Creek LLC, had been in "violation of the commercial cannabis land use ordinance," had constructed "a building or structure in violation of building, plumbing, and electrical codes," and had "facilities or activities in violation of the commercial cannabis land use ordinance." The Thomases did not understand why that was their problem, having purchased the property once their home in Los Angeles County was destroyed by a wildfire.
