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Council Continues Hearing on Zoning Code Amendments to Cannabis Ordinance

Item to come back on April 19

Published on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 | 5:51 am
 

The City Council voted to continue a public hearing on proposed changes to the city’s cannabis ordinance to April 19.

The council received more than 30 letters on the matter, but they were not read on Monday.

“It has been almost three years since Pasadena voters legalized cannabis retail & operations in the City,” Vice Mayor Andy Wilson told Pasadena Now on Sunday.  “I think now is a good time to check in to see where various projects stand, and if the regulatory framework is accomplishing what was intended.  It is within that context that we can determine if adjustments are appropriate.”

The amendments would allow more than one cannabis dispensary in each of the council’s seven districts and decrease distance requirements between dispensaries from the voter-approved 1,000 feet to 450 feet.

The amendment would not change the six-dispensary limit approved by the voters in Measure CC, and could allow dispensaries that unsuccessfully sued the city back into the process.

Measure CC, which allows up to six dispensaries to operate in Pasadena, passed with 63 percent of the vote in 2018. The ordinance also allowed the council to retain the authority to amend existing ordinances and adopt future ordinances regarding commercial cannabis business activities.

City maps later revealed that only three dispensaries would be able to open in Pasadena due to current distance requirements that prohibit dispensaries from operating too close to schools, libraries, churches, and residential neighborhoods.

This is the second time the item has come before the City Council.

In 2019, the council shot down an effort to amend the cannabis ordinance when it tabled a motion that would have changed the law to allow up to three dispensaries to operate in each of the city’s council districts.

At that meeting, the mayor and council were asked to revisit the discussion on the city’s cannabis regulations once three cannabis retailers are operational so that staff could evaluate the impacts on the city and the cannabis market.

During that hearing, several council members expressed concern that changing the ordinance would go against the will of the voters and 41 people sent correspondence opposing the change.

More than 100 cannabis operators applied for the chance to sell marijuana in Pasadena in 2019.

In the end, the city chose six dispensaries — Tony Fong, Harvest, Integral, Sweetflower, Atrium and MedMen — to move forward in the city’s selection process.

So far, only Tony Fong and Integral have received approval to open.

Sweetflower, Atrium and MedMen did not receive a required conditional use permit (CUP) to operate and were removed from the process.

All three of those companies filed lawsuits against the city.

High Times magazine purchased many of Harvest California operations. It is not known if the Pasadena location was included in that purchase.

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