Two Cannabis Permits Coming Before Planning Commission Next Wednesday

[UPDATED: To include review of second CUP] Cannabis will return to the political landscape on April 29 when the Planning Commission meets for the first time since January.

The commission will consider two Conditional Use Permits (CUP) at the meeting.

MME Pasadena Retail and Tony Fong dispensaries will be up for approval.

According to city documents, the dispensary owners have applied to do business at 536 S. Fair Oaks Ave. and 3341 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, respectively, according to the agenda which was released on Thursday.

“The applicant MME Retail Pasadena Inc. submitted a Conditional Use Permit application for a proposed cannabis retailer dispensary,” the notice of public hearing reads. “The proposed business hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.”

According to Realtrac.com, there is a 2,988 square foot medical building built in 1922, on a 14,562 square foot lot at 536 S. Fair Oaks Ave.
The same site lists 3341 E. Colorado Blvd., as a 20.176 square foot retail outlet built in 1959.

The meeting will be held telephonically at 3 p.m. The Planning Commission’s agenda has not been published.

In 2018, voters passed Measure CC, the city’s highly regulated process which allows only six pot dispensaries — and only one in each of the city’s seven council districts — to operate legally in Pasadena.

The measure also requires dispensaries to maintain strict distance limits from schools, libraries, churches and residential neighborhoods. Nearly 200 businesses applied to do business in Pasadena.

In June, The Atrium Group, Harvest of Pasadena, Integral Associates Dena, Tony Fong, Sweetwater Pasadena and MME Pasadena Retail were picked from among 122 applicants vying for permission to sell marijuana in the city.

So far only Harvest and Integral have received conditional use permits.

Last year city officials said that only three dispensaries may receive Conditional Use Permits based on city maps.

Things turned ugly when dispensaries began making allegations of bias and corruption against the city. The Atrium Group later filed a lawsuit against the city claiming city officials were lenient with Harvest.

The claim and the lawsuit stemmed from a failed conditional use permit (CUP) application filed by The Atrium Group on June 13 which would have allowed the company to open a dispensary in trendy Old Pasadena, located in City Council District 3. In its CUP application, The Atrium Group informed city officials it planned to operate at 70 W. Union St.

However, just one day before Atrium submitted its CUP application, Harvest of Pasadena submitted an application to operate at 169 W. Colorado Blvd. — a vacant building leased seasonally to a Halloween business that’s located on the northeast corner of Pasadena Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, and also located in District 3.

Officials with Harvest signed a 10-year lease that will see them pay $55,000 per month, or $660,000 a year. Next year the rent will increase to $726,000. The agreement includes annual rent increases.

Another applicant, Sweetwater Pasadena, was also rejected after it applied for a CUP in Old Pasadena.