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City Committee Set to Consider Loosening Cannabis Regulations Thursday

Published on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 | 10:59 am
 

[UPDATED] The City Council’s Economic Development and Technology (EdTech) Committee will consider allowing a cannabis dispensary that did not make the initial cut in the city’s approval process to replace a company that did get on the six-business list but was later disqualified.

At 4 p.m. Thursday, the committee will consider allowing Brick and Rose to apply for a conditional use permit (CUP) needed to open.

“Since MedMen was disqualified from the process, the [seventh] ranked applicant could be allowed to apply for a CUP. However, since existing regulations severely limit the allowable locations available to establish a dispensary,” according to a memo in Wednesday’s agenda. “it would not be advisable to move the 7th applicant forward without amending the distance separation requirements first.”

In September, Pasadena Now reported that MadMen was removed from the city selection process due to personnel shifts in the company that led to a change of control of the cannabis operation.

In 2019, the city approved MedMen and five other top applicants — Integral, Tony Fong, Atrium, Sweetflower and Harvest — to move forward in the selection process. Of the six, only two, Integral and Tony Fong, have opened. MedMen was disqualified by City Manager Steve Mermell. Atrium and Sweetflower turned in incomplete applications and had their appeals denied by the City Council.

The change could occur if the City Council agrees to change the city’s regulations. So far, the council has met at least three times on the issue.

The memo outlines potential changes to the city’s regulations that would allow for more cannabis dispensaries, including revising distance separation requirements, the number of dispensaries allowed in each City Council district, and aligning city regulations with state law.

Unlike Pasadena, the state has no distance requirements separating cannabis dispensaries from churches, libraries, parks, substance abuse centers and residential zones. The state only requires dispensaries be 600 feet from K-12 schools, youth centers and daycare centers.

“The City’s distance separation requirements far exceed the state requirements and were established several years ago before any legal dispensaries were operating,” according to a May staff report.

“These regulations were adopted with the intent to ensure these uses would not negatively impact certain uses in the vicinity, including but not limited to: churches, parks, cultivators, testing labs, libraries, parks, properties located in a residential zoning district. In addition they are limited to one per council district,” the report states.

Under Measure CC, the city’s highly regulated approval process allows only six pot dispensaries. The measure also requires dispensaries to maintain strict distance limits from schools, libraries, churches and residential neighborhoods.

The City Council-backed measure passed with 63 percent of the vote. The ordinance also allowed the council to retain the authority to amend existing ordinances and adopt future laws regarding commercial cannabis business activities.

The council placed the measure on the ballot after initially voting down an ordinance that would have allowed the sale of cannabis, but did an about-face when cannabis supporters began making plans to get a measure on the ballot that would have allowed an unlimited number of dispensaries to operate in Pasadena.

“The two dispensaries that are operating in the City have not resulted in negative impacts or any code compliance violations.” according to the memo. “While the existing regulations were appropriate given the unknown potential impacts at the time of their adoption, these dispensaries have operated without incident. Given the actual operations of these businesses, it may be appropriate to amend existing regulations to align with the state requirements. Other, more limited amendments may also be considered, such as the option was previously presented to the City Council that would allow up to [three] dispensaries per council district not less than 450 square feet from each other.”

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