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In a win for Long Beach’s cannabis industry, the City Council on Tuesday passed changes to an ordinance that would create a legal pathway for home-delivery marijuana businesses.
The vote comes three years after the Office of Cannabis Oversight released a memo on the feasibility of allowing licenses for cannabis delivery-only businesses. Amendments were passed by the Long Beach Planning Commission on Sept 19.
Following a unanimous vote of approval, the ordinance will come before the City Council dais for a final reading on Dec. 10.
Home delivery of cannabis has been allowed in Long Beach for years, but only by the 40 storefront dispensaries allowed in the city. Legal delivery-based stores have otherwise not existed locally, with sales coming from third parties stationed outside the city, such as in neighboring Carson and Los Angeles.
“I’m surprised that we’ve been so late in the cannabis delivery space,” said Long Beach Councilmember Cindy Allen. “This has been going on for years and folks have been delivering in Long Beach for some time.”
This has come at the expense of local shops and city coffers, said city Cannabis Oversight Manager Valencia Romero, as outside markets that can offer lower prices — it’s much cheaper to run a delivery-only shop — siphon revenue from stores in Long Beach.
While this ordinance cannot regulate deliveries from outside city borders, it prioritizes local businesses run by “equity applicants,” or those who have been criminalized by prior drug laws.
Licenses will be exclusive to verified equity applicants, to “further support equitable business opportunities in the local cannabis industry by accessing the retail market without competition from non-equity applicants,” the report said.
“There are folks who suffered great pains and now individuals are making great profits off of what people used to go to jail for and be labeled as criminals,” said Councilmember Al Austin.
Conditions, according to the report, were created based on existing rules in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento and San Francisco.
The city has already received interest from equity applicants, Romero said.
It’s unknown how much this ordinance will generate in local revenue or job creation. Retail sales yielded more than $13 million in 2023; the city expects under $11 million this year.
Changes also included in the item Tuesday were operating guidelines — the kind of car, driver uniform and product packaging allowed — as well as zoning changes that restrict where stores are allowed.
Unlike storefront dispensaries, which earn most of their keep through in-person sales, delivery shops can have non-descript facades and be located in any commercial or industrial zone.
They must however stay within a “green zone” and follow state laws surrounding buffer zones, such as not within a thousand feet of a school or public beach or within 600 feet of a public park, library or daycare.
Despite some confusion during public comment, city officials clarified at the meeting that an additional buffer rule that prohibits two dispensaries from operating within 1,000 feet of each other does not apply to delivery-only businesses.
The city has in recent years ramped up efforts to promote the local cannabis industry, from a tax relief program passed in June for budding retailers to a separate ordinance that allows on-site use at special events.
Long Beach moves to legalize cannabis home-delivery businesses – Long Beach Post
