Clearlake City Council approves ordinance to allow more commercial cannabis operations
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Clearlake City Council on Thursday voted to approve a new ordinance to implement changes to rules regarding commercial cannabis operations, allowing more of them to open in the city.
Thursday’s discussion about the rule changes was the third meeting in a row in which the council discussed them.
The item begins at the 1:29:15 mark in the video above.
The discussions initially had begun at the Aug. 25 meeting, when staff asked the council if it wanted to increase the maximum number of permittees allowed.
At the time, City Manager Alan Flora said the city had a continued demand for licenses and the city’s existing cannabis businesses were seeing success with their operations.
At the Sept. 3 meeting, Flora returned with more information at the request of the council – relating to the number of permittees, police calls at the facilities, available commercial zoning and financial impacts.
The council at that point gave the go-ahead for changes to the number of businesses allowed and locations.
In his report for the Sept. 17 meeting, Flora said retail dispensaries would continue to be limited to three as they currently are in the city municipal code.
The rule changes would lift the caps on delivery-on dispensaries, which is two, and other cannabis businesses, which is 12, and rather than using a total number as the basis would instead limit them to locations on the city’s Commercial Cannabis Combining District map, Flora said.
In an email before Thursday’s meeting, Flora told Lake County News that there is immediate interest for at least four additional permits.
During the council discussion, staff read a public comment from city resident Joan Mingori, who asked if they wanted the city to be the cannabis capital. She added that she believed it was criminal to not let people speak to the council face-to-face about the matter, a reference to the fact that the council meetings continue to remain closed to in-person participation by the public.
She said there is a growing black market issue and asked why staff continued to bring up the matter, questioning how many of them live in the city.
Councilman Russ Perdock said he disagreed with removing the number cap, pointing out that at the Sept. 3 meeting he had suggested increasing the cap numbers by six.
Councilwoman Joyce Overton, maintaining that she was the only one to be against allowing the cannabis businesses to begin with, said she didn’t think the new rule changes would be a big issue.
Councilman Phil Harris moved to approve the first reading of the ordinance, which was seconded by Vice Mayor Dirk Slooten. The council approved the ordinance 4-1, with Perdock voting no.
In other business on Thursday, the council got an update on animal shelter operations, heard a presentation from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on public safety power shutoffs, approved the first reading of an ordinance adopting the city’s development impact fee program for transportation, awarded a $455,000 contract to the California Engineering Co. for professional engineering services for the Sulphur Fire Road Rehabilitation Project, approved a radio voting receiver site for the police department, adopted a third amendment to the Fiscal Year 2020-21 budget to appropriate funding for professional services, equipment and supplies, and gave Overton direction on voting for resolutions as the city’s delegate at the 2020 League of California Cities Annual Conference, which is virtual this year.
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