Carson City Board of Supervisors reject $400,000 settlement with Tahoe Hemp over breach of contract
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Thu, 08/04/2022 - 9:56am
The Carson City Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to reject Tahoe Hemp LLC’s proposed settlement in the amount of $400,000 after, they say, the city breached a contract with the company that had planned on growing agricultural hemp on Buzzy’s Ranch.
Tahoe Hemp proposed the settlement of $400,000 following mediation.
Tahoe Hemp sued the city for $15 million in 2020 after the city blocked the company from hemp cultivation despite the company having an agreement with the Jarrard Family Trust, who sold Buzzy’s Ranch to the city with the express condition they would be allowed to use portions of the valley for agricultural enterprises. The trust entered into an agreement with Tahoe Hemp to use portions of the ranch for hemp cultivation which the city later blocked.
District Attorney Jason Woodbury recommended to the Board that the offer be rejected.
Rick Campbell, a representative of Tahoe Hemp, gave public comment during the meeting, stating that the damages accrued by Tahoe Hemp during the first year were in excess of $28 million.
Campbell stated that the reason the judgement against Tahoe Hemp was entered was due to an idea that the production of hemp would create waste on the property, thereby destroying the property.
“I don’t think there’s support in the record there was going to be waste in the property,” said Campbell. “This was a rush to judgement by staff to deny this permit.”
Robert Lopez, part-owner of Tahoe Hemp, stated that hemp production is a cleansing agricultural crop, and that growing it cleanses the soils of impurities, which would be beneficial to any further crops being grown in the soil after the hemp production would be over.
“(At the time of the walkthrough) we agreed to a bond with a certain amount of money that would be used to rehabilitate the land after we’d used it,” said Lopez. “So that was already pre-agreed to.”
The city told Tahoe Hemp that hemp production could violate a grant the city had secured to purchase the property, and eventually rejected Tahoe Hemp’s attempts to grow on the property.
Campbell stated that a $400,000 settlement would be a major concession for Tahoe Hemp, but it would be riskier for the city to reject the settlement proposal and potentially have the decision reversed by the Nevada Supreme Court.
The Board did not discuss the settlement offer, and voted unanimously to reject it.
