City Council
MEETING DATE: 11/23/2016
TITLE:
Title
Interim Urgency Ordinance Temporarily Halting Approvals of New Dispensary Applications
End
FROM:
Erica L. Vega, Assistant City Attorney
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council adopt an ordinance imposing a temporary moratorium on the approval of new applications for dispensaries.
Body
BACKGROUND:
In early 2016, the City Council adopted Ordinances 772 and 774, comprehensively overhauling its regulations of medical cannabis businesses, including dispensaries. These ordinances made significant changes to the permitting and approval process for dispensaries, including eliminating the cap on the number of dispensaries that were allowed to operate in the City. The City's prior regulations provided that no more than three dispensaries could operate in the City, with the possibility of a fourth as the population of the City increased. Two dispensaries were approved under the prior regulations.
On April 1, 2016, the City began accepting applications for dispensaries under the City's new regulatory program. Under the new regulations, dispensaries may locate in the I-1, CBP-2 and PCC zones, and must be setback certain distances from residential zones, East Palm Canyon Drive, and schools, day-care centers and youth centers. To date, the City has received eighteen applications for dispensaries under the new regulations. Eleven of these applications have already received their medical cannabis license and conditional use permit to operate. There are five applications that are currently pending, and two have been denied conditional use permits by the Planning Commission. The two denials have been appealed to the City Council as well as one of the approvals.
DISCUSSION:
Concerns have been raised by members of the public and the Planning Commission regarding the number of dispensaries that are seeking to locate in the City. Due to the limited locations where dispensaries...
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