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PACIFIC GROVE – The Pacific Grove City Council held a concept review on cannabis retail on Wednesday, to fill in blanks for staff as next steps in bringing the business to town are figured out.
For the most part, there was plenty of review. But as far as what came of discussions, that’s a little more murky.
Acting on council direction handed down in December, city staff this week brought forward suggested regulations for cannabis retail proposed in Pacific Grove, including two draft ordinances: one for licensing the business and another for zoning.
More so outlines than final plans, staff introduced the ordinances for initial feedback from the City Council. To guide conversations, an agenda report for Wednesday’s meeting laid out a set of questions for the council to consider. One by one, council members cycled through the 10 or so questions, sometimes coming to a consensus, but by the end, leaving a slew of ideas for staff to sift through.
“Where did we land on the first question? My notes are all over the map,” City Manager Ben Harvey asked the council Wednesday night.
“We did not,” Mayor Bill Peake said.
“OK, we didn’t make a decision,” Harvey replied. “Then that’s why my notes are accurate.”
The first question the City Council considered was to what extent it wanted to OK delivery-only (i.e. non-storefront) cannabis retailers in Pacific Grove, on top of the business it was already looking to allow.
Previously, the council had directed staff to create a cannabis retail licensing program that would authorize one cannabis retail storefront within the city limits. The move was motivated by Pacific Grove’s approval of Measure M in the November general election, which asked whether the council should amend the city’s municipal code to allow retail sales of medicinal or recreational cannabis. Voters approved the advisory measure 61.42% to 38.58%, with nearly 70% of registered voters turning out.
But starting on Jan. 1, 2024, a new state law will go into effect (SB 1186) that bars local ordinances from prohibiting – or having the effect of prohibiting – the delivery of medicinal cannabis. Within those confines, staff went into Wednesday’s meeting asking if the council had any desire to set a limit on the number of delivery-only businesses allowed to operate in Pacific Grove. Staff’s recommendation, based on advice from sales tax consultant HdL Companies, was to allow delivery-only retailers without limits.
Council feedback was a mixed bag. A few members, including Peake and Councilman Chaps Poduri, supported the staff recommendation. Mayor Pro Tempore Nick Smith and Councilman Joe Amelio reiterated their inclination for one pot dispensary in town but offered little support in the way of deliveries. Councilwoman Lori McDonnell was in favor of expanding the scope of Pacific Grove cannabis to medicinal deliveries only and likewise reiterated her appetite for capping storefront business to one, while Councilman Luke Coletti primarily posed questions. Finally, Councilwoman Debby Beck instead suggested a compromise: require whichever storefront retailer the city selects to also provide medicinal delivery.
The council moved on without a consensus.
Another matter that warranted back-and-forth was the process for reviewing and picking interested retailers. In terms of evaluation, factors ranged from who should do the reviewing to whether applications should be scored on an objective scale or judged pass/fail on a list of objective standards. Then there’s the issue of selection, and if a retailer should be chosen because they are the top-ranked applicant or through a lottery system. Again, input varied but seemed to focus further into conversation toward some blend of options – objective and subject criteria, ranking and lottery.
For questions that came to a clearer resolution, the council agreed on a 60-day application period for businesses and supported background checks at the local level that mimicked checks required by the state.
The council also gave a resounding no to allowing cannabis consumption on the premises of the city’s cannabis retail storefront, if and when it is built.
Ultimately, the City Council tied up Wednesday’s concept review with a general blueprint for how it wanted staff to proceed going forward: first, send draft ordinances to the city’s Planning Commission for its feedback then back to council for approval. Once the ordinances are buttoned up, staff will work on an application for potential retailers, which will also go to the council for a final OK.
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