After nearly three hours of heated deliberation, the Lemon Grove City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to deny an appeal from a cannabis business owner seeking extension of his permit to open a dispensary.
City records show that Chris Williams, a former mayoral candidate, originally received a minor use permit for his proposed dispensary at 8280 Broadway in November 2019. When it expired a year later, Williams reapplied for a second and then a third permit, both of which subsequently expired.
Williams was then granted a conditional use permit in 2022 for the same site, but was denied an extension in April by the City Council, which cited his failure to meet crucial deadlines and show significant progress.
That hearing also included an accusation of an alleged bribe. Mayor Racquel Vasquez said that she’d been contacted by someone “who is known in the business community on behalf of Chris Williams and his investors” who offered to fly her to Las Vegas to talk about approving Williams’ dispensary.” The City Council reported during Tuesday’s meeting that the matter is under investigation.
After his extension was denied, another proposed dispensary was granted a conditional use permit in May at 8290 Broadway, next door to Williams’ proposed location. That dispensary is in the process of working toward building permits and is waiting for a response from the Lemon Grove Engineering Department, said Attorney Gina Austin, who represents the owners and spoke during the hearing.
“What (Williams is) trying to do is he’s trying to take this opportunity to rehear and rehash the approval of the application that my client had back on May 2,” Austin said.
The meeting Tuesday became tense at times when Councilmember Liana LeBaron, Williams and attendees heckled and interrupted other people during their turns to speak.
Multiple times during the discussion, the mayor reminded LeBaron and the audience of the rules of conduct for city council meetings, and at one point asked Williams to leave.
Mayor Pro Tem George Gastil said he was greatly concerned about various allegations made during disruptions at the meeting. He also said that Tuesday’s appeal had not revealed any new information that would flip the May decision to approve the dispensary at 8290 Broadway.
“That (approval) was done following a full discussion of everything we needed to discuss,” Gastil said. “Of course other parties have the right to appeal, but nothing new has come up today, nothing that would would affect the approval that happened in May.”
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