At its June 5 meeting, the Grover Beach City Council unanimously approved a new pre-application and verification process for would-be medicinal marijuana dispensaries, furthering the South County City’s leadership over the issue in SLO County.
The screening process, debated on the merits of just how much information it collects before approving or denying applicants, could raise tens-of-thousands in application fees alone, before selecting a maximum of two retail businesses that would be allowed. That’s down to an $8,100, 1-time application fee, plus $750 per individual owner/business partner.
Several other SLO County cities are also working on marijuana ordinances, including Paso Robles, Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo.
Cost isn’t a deterrent though for existing mobile/delivery businesses from across SLO County, which have already expressed interest in starting the process as soon as possible when the regulations kick in on July 17.
In mid-May, Grover finalized plans on how to handle commercial marijuana, deciding to restrict cannabis businesses to a geographic triangle of the community. That effectively concentrates indoor nurseries, labs and production facilities. The allowance for two medical dispensaries was part of that plan.
The decision not only made the beach community, population 13,505, the first locally to officially embrace the industry, it set the stage for such businesses to relocate and congregate in the area.
Former Grover Beach Mayor Ron Arnoldsen, was infamously, or at least notably, upset by the move.
He prompted uproar by his choice of language insinuating that his successors likening them to “whores,” willing to do anything for a buck. The regulations may tamp down some of that criticism.
The number of allowed dispensaries has already been brought down to two from the originally proposed four and with a points-based screening process.
Although, in discussion the Council eliminated the “Environmental Benefits” category to reallocate the 10 points to other priorities among the six remaining: Proposed Dispensary Site; Business Plan; Qualifications and Experience of Principals; Neighborhood Compatibility Plan; Operations and Security Plan; and Local Enterprise.
Grover Beach Mayor John Shoals asked City Manager Matt Bronson, “I’m concerned you’re asking for a lot of information from applicants. I mean how long will this take? Is there a way to tell if there’s going to be some redundancy here?”
Police Chief, John Peters, noted that much of the time involved in the 60-day review period was due to a 30-day window for local police to conduct background checks. Just like with news reporters, how much time it takes, depends on needed sources getting back to them.
“Yes,” acknowledged Bronson, “this approach does require a lot of detail. The advantage is that when it comes time for the use permit we have the information available and getting more of that information up front helps us to determine the most capable applicants.”
Would-be marijuana operators would also need to pass an FBI criminal background check. As for all the funds collected, as per the staff report it’s their estimate of the costs incurred and, “if an applicant is disqualified as part of Phase 1, the application fee would be refunded less the cost to conduct the background check and staff time spent reviewing the application.”
Established dispensary services, such as Diamond Cannabis Direct, are confident they can match the criteria, having told local media that they’ve already got lawyers working on the paperwork for review starting June 14.
Todd Mitchell, principal with Medicinal Greens Inc., thanked the Council for following through with the process, noting that they’d been following events closely and bought a suitable property in advance, “We’ve followed all your rules, as well as the State’s and we didn’t displace anyone. We just got the site by luck; it became available. We appreciate your consideration for both us and listening to your residents.”
By Camas Frank
