On March 22, 2016, the Sutter County Board of Supervisors adopted urgency Ordinance No. 1618 regulating the cultivation of marijuana in Sutter County. This ordinance is located in Chapter 410 of the County’s Ordinance Code (see link below) and this ordinance regulates the indoor and outdoor cultivation of marijuana and requires everyone in the unincorporated County to annually register their proposed cultivation prior to growing marijuana.

Some of the key requirements of this ordinance are:

• The outdoor cultivation of marijuana is not permitted
• Cultivation of marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school, school evacuation site, church, park, county-licensed child care center, or a youth-oriented facility is not permitted
• Cultivation of marijuana inside residences and on vacant lots (i.e. premises without a permitted residential use) is not permitted
• The indoor cultivation of marijuana is limited to no more than eighty (80) square feet
• The structure must be detached from the primary structure and meet all building code requirements, unless it is a pre-fabricated greenhouse which is no larger than eighty (80) square feet and meets the requirements of the ordinance
• Prior to cultivation, an annual registration must be obtained from the Development Services Department and the cultivation site must be inspected for compliance with the ordinance
• A registration fee of $250 and an inspection fee of $228 must be paid

Sutter County Code of Ordinances

Please read the preface on the Code of Ordinances page before viewing the ordinances on the Municode website.

• Code of Ordinances page

Complaint Form

If you wish to file a complaint regarding a violation of the Marijuana Cultivation ordinance, please use the form below:

• Code Enforcement Complaint Form

GIS Mapping

Use the GIS lookup application below to determine if a property is in a prohibited grow area by entering a site address or Assessor’s Parcel number.

• GIS Marijuana Cultivation Lookup Application