As of May 1, the City of San Luis Obispo is one step closer to permitting adult-use cannabis retail stores. At its most recent meeting, council members approved the first reading of a draft ordinance intended to regulate marijuana businesses. Currently, Ordinance 1633 which was adopted in March 2017, expressly prohibits all commercial and industrial, medical and recreational cannabis activity within city limits.
Pursuant to Ordinance 1633, the Council directed staff to monitor developments in other jurisdictions, monitor development at the federal level, engage with the community regarding various land use and taxation issues, and return to the City Council with a recommendation. We now have those recommendations, which would establish new Municipal Code provisions that would become effective if a cannabis revenue measure is placed on the November 2018 General Election ballot and approved by voters.
Specifically, staff recommended “repealing the current ban on commercial cannabis business activity and establishing standards to protect public health and safety regulating personal cannabis cultivation, cannabis business operators, and permitted cannabis business activities in the City.” Staff also recommended land use regulations for commercial cannabis activity and personal cultivation and provided for the creation of overlay zones where the proposed regulations would apply.
Before regulations are adopted, though, staff will still need to return to City Council with additional implementing measures, including zoning map amendments for the proposed overlay zones, criteria for ranking permit applications, and a fee schedule for applications and annual licenses.
A summary of the proposed ordinance was provided in the Staff Report as follows:
- Allows for access to medical and recreational marijuana in the City, with storefront and delivery options (at least one storefront will be reserved for a holder of a medicinal retail license)
- Prohibits onsite consumption
- Establishes a two-step process requiring prospective business operators to be certified and ranked prior to applying for a land use permit
- Includes requirements for energy and water efficiency, and limits total amount of cultivation, to ensure consistency with City climate action goals
- Limits manufacturing uses to non-volatile extractions only
- Limits cultivation to indoors only, and total City-wide amount of cultivation allowed to 70,000 square feed of total canopy coverage within indoor areas, cumulatively (includes total canopy of either horizontal or vertical growing situations)
- Provides for the creation of overlay zones where cannabis business activity may be permitted, and buffers within those overlay zones for cannabis retail stores of 300 feet from residential zones, and 1,000 feet from schools, and parks
- Requires retail stores to be located at least 1,000 feet apart
- Only three retail storefronts, which must be on arterial streets, will be allowed within the City
According to the City Council, they intend to adopt regulations by early summer of 2018, but given that the voters must approve a tax revenue measure in November in order for the ordinance to go into effect, we’re still looking at quite some time before the City begins accepting permit applications. We will keep you posted!