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Rancho Cucamonga will allow one — and only one — medical cannabis delivery service in town, officials have decided.
At a meeting earlier this month, the City Council unanimously approved a proposal to permit a single delivery service to begin operations in order to comply with state law.
On Sept. 18, 2022 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1186, the Medicinal Cannabis Patients’ Right of Access Act, requiring cities to allow a delivery service for medical marijuana to operate within their boundaries to serve medical patients. The bill goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Staff brought the ordinance to the city to comply with state law, Jennifer Nakamura, deputy director of planning said in the council’s meeting Wednesday, Dec. 6.
In 2017, the city banned all commercial sales of cannabis. But to comply with Proposition 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act which passed in 2016, the city allowed the cultivation of indoor plants for personal use.
“This is another example of the state taking away local control and, unfortunately, we now have to abide by these rules,” Councilmember Kristine D. Scott said in the meeting.
City Attorney Nick Ghirelli said Rancho Cucamonga leaders could comply with state law and exercise their authority by limiting the number of cannabis delivery businesses to one.
The city is restricting the business to zones marked for industrial use off major roads, Nakamura explained. She said the business will need to be a maximum 600 feet away from schools and daycare centers, 1,000 feet from residential areas, places of worship, parks, public buildings and recreational areas, and hospitals.
When questioned why the business must be located only a maximum of 600 feet from schools and daycare centers, Nakamura said state law only allowed up to 600 feet of separation between such land uses.
“It is just another example of the state of California, of Sacramento, the Legislature legislating and taking away our ability as locally elected officials … to make decisions that would allow a greater separation,” said Mayor L. Dennis Michael.
Nakamura said with the passage of the ordinance, city staff will work to create a lottery system for which delivery service provider would be allowed to create a non-store front business within city limits.
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