The city councils of Monterey and neighboring Pacific Grove have each approved ordinances allowing retail cannabis, with Monterey best poised to issue business licenses on a faster timeline than P.G. Monterey could be reviewing license applications as early as Nov. 27.
The Pacific Grove City Council on Wednesday, Nov. 1 with a vote of 6-0 approved a zoning ordinance allowing one retail cannabis location in the city. (Councilmember Joe Amelio was absent.)
There is much work left to do in P.G., however. The council still must approve administrative rules around cannabis businesses in the city, including delivery businesses, as well as how the lone retail business will be selected and how the rules will be enforced.
Most of those issues were already worked out when an ordinance came before the Monterey City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Monterey councilmembers voted 4-1 to approve the ordinance.
Councilmember Ed Smith voted "no," as he has done every step of the way since the city began considering adding cannabis businesses in 2020. "We should not be in the business," he said. Smith predicted that cannabis sales tax revenue will be "revenue neutral or pretty close to it," and thought all the work the city had invested in creating the ordinance was a waste of time.
The Monterey ordinance goes back to the council on Nov. 21 for a second reading, at which time the council will receive a staff report on retail application permit guidelines and criteria. They'll also consider an ordinance amending the city code that details how the city will achieve a full-cost recovery for administering the cannabis business program.
The ordinance allows for no more than four retail permits, one in each of four designated areas of the city: Lighthouse business district; Wave Street near Cannery Row; downtown; North Fremont Avenue. No cannabis stores would be allowed along Cannery Row or on the streets that lead down from residential neighborhoods into the Lighthouse and Cannery Row areas.
In addition, when looking for locations, cannabis businesses will be up against 600-foot buffer zones to keep them away from schools and day care centers, as required by state law.
The ordinance also allows for up to two cannabis events at the Monterey County Fair & Event Center.
After the Nov. 21 meeting, there will be an initial 45-day application screening period for storefront and non-storefront cannabis businesses, like delivery services and testing laboratories. That period could open as early as Nov. 27 and close on Jan. 11.
Applications will be scored and ranked by a consultant. The top three applications in each category will be forwarded to an ad hoc committee made up of the mayor, vice mayor and a staff member, which will then make a recommendation to the full council for final approval.
Back in Pacific Grove, cannabis entrepreneurs will find it a little tougher than in Monterey. P.G.'s ordinance requires a 1,000-foot buffer, 400 feet wider than the state's law. The only two locations in town that might work are the Forest Hill business district on upper Forest Avenue past David Avenue, and the industrial area along Sunset Drive before Asilomar State Beach.