Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
Redwood City's elected officials made it clear this week that they are in favor of a conservative, phased approach to allowing cannabis businesses in city limits.
On Monday night, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that limits indoor cultivation to six marijuana plants, bans personal outdoor cultivation and all commercial cultivation, manufacturing, testing, retail and distribution, except for deliveries, effective Jan. 2, 2018, while the city explores possible additional uses.
A phased approach to cannabis floated by staff in its report to council recommended a second phase sometime in 2018 to enforce existing business license obligations on businesses that provide delivery services in the city while the city develops a regulatory fee and delivery regulations; a third phase in January 2019 to develop regulations for medical and adult-use delivery-only retail businesses; and a fourth phase later in 2019 expanding regulations to allow storefront retail businesses.
Storefront retail likely won't be part of the plan, as no council members supported moving in that direction, at least not before seeing what route other nearby cities are taking and what impacts those decisions have on their communities.
"I don't think it's something we need to be involved with," Mayor John Seybert said. "We don't have retail bookstores anymore. ... We're seeing a decline in storefront retail for everything else."
The state, which is expected to enact its own regulations by Jan. 1, recommends that any cannabis business be at least 600 feet from schools, daycare facilities and youth centers. The council favored expanding that distance to 1,000 feet or more and adding parks and other facilities where youths are present to that list, as well as possibly creating zoning areas specifically for cannabis businesses. That's because just enacting restrictions based on distance could place businesses downtown.
"You could be 1,000 feet from a school and be in downtown Redwood City, but I'm not interested in this," Seybert said. "One thousand feet could put you in a place with unintended consequences."
Councilwoman Shelly Masur added that a map of potential locations 1,000 feet from areas of youth activity still puts potential sites too close to Sequoia High School, and Councilman Jeffrey Gee noted that a dispensary could come in to an existing warehouse in the city's light-industrial zones unless the city makes dispensary approvals a land-use issue.
The council also expressed interest in recovering revenue from cannabis delivery businesses in the second phase through individual development agreements rather than pursuing an excise tax, which would require voter approval through a possible November 2018 ballot initiative. City staff is expected to come back to the council early next year to schedule discussions for the second phase.
Fifty-six percent of California voters passed Proposition 64 in November 2016, which made it immediately legal for adults 21 or over to possess, transport, obtain or give away to others age 21 or older no more than 1 ounce of marijuana or 8 grams of concentrated cannabis. In Redwood City, 66.2 percent of voters approved the measure.
The city currently allows medical marijuana deliveries in the city, but while those services are required to obtain a business license and pay a tax on that license, none are currently complying with those obligations, according to the staff report. As part of the second phase, staff will begin to enforce those obligations.
Market data suggest there are between 200 and 300 deliveries a day to patients in the city and several cannabis operators are interested in locating in the city, the report states. According to a study by MuniServices, a municipal consulting firm hired by the city, between 8.2 and 11 percent of county residents use cannabis monthly, which equates to 2,468 to 3,393 Redwood City residents.
Staff said the city stands to gain as much as $287,000 in annual revenue from cannabis businesses through such elements as the business license tax, a cannabis business regulatory fee, cannabis excise tax or development agreements, and the standard 8.75 percent sales tax rate, 1 percent of which would stay in the city. If the council chooses not to pursue storefront retail, annual revenue would dip to $125,000.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: City favors cautions approach to marijuana regulations
Author: Kevin Kelly
Contact: Contact Us – The Mercury News
Photo Credit: AP Photo
Website: The Mercury News - Bay Area news, sports, business, entertainment, lifestyle and commentary
On Monday night, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance that limits indoor cultivation to six marijuana plants, bans personal outdoor cultivation and all commercial cultivation, manufacturing, testing, retail and distribution, except for deliveries, effective Jan. 2, 2018, while the city explores possible additional uses.
A phased approach to cannabis floated by staff in its report to council recommended a second phase sometime in 2018 to enforce existing business license obligations on businesses that provide delivery services in the city while the city develops a regulatory fee and delivery regulations; a third phase in January 2019 to develop regulations for medical and adult-use delivery-only retail businesses; and a fourth phase later in 2019 expanding regulations to allow storefront retail businesses.
Storefront retail likely won't be part of the plan, as no council members supported moving in that direction, at least not before seeing what route other nearby cities are taking and what impacts those decisions have on their communities.
"I don't think it's something we need to be involved with," Mayor John Seybert said. "We don't have retail bookstores anymore. ... We're seeing a decline in storefront retail for everything else."
The state, which is expected to enact its own regulations by Jan. 1, recommends that any cannabis business be at least 600 feet from schools, daycare facilities and youth centers. The council favored expanding that distance to 1,000 feet or more and adding parks and other facilities where youths are present to that list, as well as possibly creating zoning areas specifically for cannabis businesses. That's because just enacting restrictions based on distance could place businesses downtown.
"You could be 1,000 feet from a school and be in downtown Redwood City, but I'm not interested in this," Seybert said. "One thousand feet could put you in a place with unintended consequences."
Councilwoman Shelly Masur added that a map of potential locations 1,000 feet from areas of youth activity still puts potential sites too close to Sequoia High School, and Councilman Jeffrey Gee noted that a dispensary could come in to an existing warehouse in the city's light-industrial zones unless the city makes dispensary approvals a land-use issue.
The council also expressed interest in recovering revenue from cannabis delivery businesses in the second phase through individual development agreements rather than pursuing an excise tax, which would require voter approval through a possible November 2018 ballot initiative. City staff is expected to come back to the council early next year to schedule discussions for the second phase.
Fifty-six percent of California voters passed Proposition 64 in November 2016, which made it immediately legal for adults 21 or over to possess, transport, obtain or give away to others age 21 or older no more than 1 ounce of marijuana or 8 grams of concentrated cannabis. In Redwood City, 66.2 percent of voters approved the measure.
The city currently allows medical marijuana deliveries in the city, but while those services are required to obtain a business license and pay a tax on that license, none are currently complying with those obligations, according to the staff report. As part of the second phase, staff will begin to enforce those obligations.
Market data suggest there are between 200 and 300 deliveries a day to patients in the city and several cannabis operators are interested in locating in the city, the report states. According to a study by MuniServices, a municipal consulting firm hired by the city, between 8.2 and 11 percent of county residents use cannabis monthly, which equates to 2,468 to 3,393 Redwood City residents.
Staff said the city stands to gain as much as $287,000 in annual revenue from cannabis businesses through such elements as the business license tax, a cannabis business regulatory fee, cannabis excise tax or development agreements, and the standard 8.75 percent sales tax rate, 1 percent of which would stay in the city. If the council chooses not to pursue storefront retail, annual revenue would dip to $125,000.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: City favors cautions approach to marijuana regulations
Author: Kevin Kelly
Contact: Contact Us – The Mercury News
Photo Credit: AP Photo
Website: The Mercury News - Bay Area news, sports, business, entertainment, lifestyle and commentary
