A. This section shall establish the initial application procedure, requiring applicants to meet and comply with minimum application requirements.
B. Notwithstanding the subsection hereinabove, the City Manager shall have the authority to adopt any procedure(s) to supplement the initial application process as set forth herein. Pursuant to this section, the City Manager, or their designee, will have the authority to adopt any procedures to govern the application process, and the manner in which the decision will ultimately be made regarding the issuance of any Commercial Cannabis Permit(s), including establishing objective review criteria (“Review Criteria”), if necessary in order to supplement any provision established herein in furtherance of CMC 5.42 or their adopted procedures. The City Manager, or their designee, is authorized to prepare the necessary applications, forms, adopt any necessary rules to the application, regulations and processes, solicit applications, and conduct initial evaluations of the applicants.
C. Notwithstanding the sections hereinabove, the following minimum, and complete information shall be included in each and every application for a City of Chico Commercial Cannabis Permit:
(1) Name of Applicant: For applicants who are individuals, the applicant’s full legal name (first, middle, last). For applicants that are business entities, the applicant’s legal business name.
(2) Business Trade Name (if applicable): The business trade name (“DBA”) of the applicant.
(3) Identification of Primary Owner: The full name (first, middle, last), primary phone number, social security number, or date and place of birth, email address, and mailing address for the primary owner submitting the Application.
(4) For each person that is an “owner” of the applicant, as defined in this Chapter, including the “primary owner” referenced above, the following information:
1. Owner’s full legal name;
2. Owner’s title within the applicant entity;
3. Owner’s date and place of birth;
4. Owner’s social security number or individual taxpayer identification number;
5. Owner’s mailing address;
6. Owner’s telephone number;
7. Owner’s email address;
8. Percentage of interest held in the applicant entity by the owner;
9. Whether the owner has an ownership or financial interest, as defined in Title 16, Division 42, Section 5003 of the Bureau of Cannabis Control Regulations, in any other commercial cannabis business licensed under the AUMA or the MAUCRSA;
10. A copy of the owner’s government-issued identification, acceptable forms are a document issued by a federal, state, county, or municipal government that includes the name, date of birth, physical description, and picture of the owner, such as a driver’s license;
11. A detailed description of the owner’s criminal convictions, if applicable. A conviction for this purpose means a plea or guilty verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere. Convictions dismissed under Penal Code section 1203.4 or equivalent non-California law must be disclosed. Convictions dismissed under Health & Safety Code section 11361.8 or equivalent non-California law must be disclosed. Juvenile Adjudications and traffic infractions under $300 that did not involve alcohol, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances do not need to be included. For each conviction, provide: (a) the date of conviction; (b) dates of incarceration, if applicable; (c) dates of probation, if applicable; (d) dates of parole, if applicable; (e) a detailed description of the offense for which the owner was convicted; and (f) a statement of rehabilitation for each conviction written by the owner that demonstrates the owner’s fitness for consideration;
12. If applicable, a detailed description of the suspension of a commercial cannabis license, revocation of a commercial cannabis license, or sanctions for unlicensed commercial cannabis activity by a licensing authority or local agency against the applicant or a business entity in which the applicant was an owner or officer within the three (3) years immediately preceding the date of the application;
13. If applicable, a detailed description if the City issued the applicant a notice or citation for unlicensed commercial cannabis activity, or if the applicant was a defendant in a civil or criminal proceeding filed by the City or the People of the State of California, for allowing, causing, or permitting unlicensed commercial cannabis activities within the City’s jurisdiction;
14. An attestation of each owner as follows: “Under penalty of perjury, I hereby declare that the information contained within and submitted with the application is complete, true, and accurate. I understand that a misrepresentation of fact or omission may be cause for rejection or denial of this application, or revocation of any Commercial Cannabis Permit or Conditional Use Permit, or non-approval of a Development Agreement, or any permit, license or approval issued in reliance thereon.”
(5) Primary Contact: The contact information for the applicant’s designated primary contact person, including the name, title, phone number, and email address of said individual.
(6) Nature of Operations: Identification of whether the applicant seeks to operate a cannabis manufacturing site, testing laboratory, distribution site, or retailer; the specific State license category under which the applicant will seek to operate; and the number of employees anticipated.
(7) Business Plan:
a. Owner qualifications. Resumes/Curriculum Vitae are not to exceed one (1) page per owner.
b. A budget for construction, operation, and maintenance, compensation of employees, equipment costs, utility cost, and other operation costs.
c. Proof of capitalization from a verifiable source.
d. Pro Forma plan for at least three years of operation.
e. Fully describe hours of operation and opening and closing procedures.
f. Fully describe the day-to-day operations for each license type being sought.
g. Fully describe cash handling procedures.
h. Fully describe inventory control procedures to include, identification point-of-sales and track and trace software.
i. Business formation and all related documents filed with the California Secretary of State.
(8) Labor and Local Enterprise Plan:
a. Describe whether the Commercial Cannabis Business is committed to offering employees a Living Wage. (“Living Wage” shall mean 125% of the minimum wage mandated by California law.)
b. Describe compensation to and opportunities for continuing education and employee training.
c. Describe the extent to which the Commercial Cannabis Business will be a locally managed enterprise whose owners and /or managers reside within the City of Chico or Butte County.
d. Describe the number of employees, title/position and their respective responsibilities.
e. Thoroughly describe employee policies and procedures (complete manuals are not required to be submitted).
f. If the Commercial Cannabis Business has twenty (20) or more non- supervisory employees, the applicant must attest that they are committed to or have entered into a labor peace agreement and will abide by its terms.
(9) Neighborhood Compatibility Plan:
A. Describe how the Commercial Cannabis Business will proactively address and respond to complaints related to noise, light, odor, vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
B. Describe how the Commercial Cannabis Business will be managed so as to avoid becoming a nuisance or having impacts on its neighbors and the surrounding community.
C. Describe odor mitigation practices.
1. Identify potential sources of odor.
2. Describe odor control devices and techniques employed to ensure that odors from cannabis are not detectable beyond the licensed premises.
3. Describe all proposed staff training, and system maintenance plans.
4. Describe the waste management plan. The plan shall include waste disposal locations, security measures, and methods of rendering all waste unusable and unrecognizable.
(10) Safety Plan:
A thorough Safety Plan should consider all possible fire, medical and hazardous situations. (Complete policy/procedures manuals are not required at this point of the application process. Please only provide a detailed description for each criteria).
a. The Safety Plan shall be prepared by a professional fire prevention and suppression consultant.
b. Identify all gases and/or chemicals to be used and their storage locations
c. Identify fire alarm and monitoring system including the name and contact information for the alarm company.
d. Describe accident and incident reporting procedures.
e. Describe evacuation routes.
f. Location of fire extinguishers and other fire suppression equipment.
g. Describe procedures and training for all fire and medical emergencies.
h. Describe and identify the location of all gas monitoring equipment.
(11) Security Plan:
A thorough Security Plan should consider all access control, inventory control, cash handling procedures. (Complete policy/procedures manuals are not required at this point of the application process. Please only provide a detailed description for each criteria.)
A. The Security Plan shall be prepared by a professional security consultant. Security Plans will be treated as confidential and will not be made public. Applicant is responsible for identifying all pages in a security plan that are confidential.
B. Premises (Security) Diagram. In addition to diagrams submitted for other sections of the application, applicants are expected to submit a premises diagram which focuses on the proposed security measures and how they relate to the overall business. (Pursuant to BCC §5006).
(1) The diagram shall be accurate, dimensioned and to scale (minimum scale ¼") the scale may be smaller if the proposed location exceeds more than a ½ -acre parcel but must not be printed on larger than an 11" x 17" sheet of paper. (Blueprints and engineering site plans are not required at this point of the application process.)
(2) The diagram must be drawn to scale and clearly identify property boundaries, entrances, exits, interior partitions, walls, rooms, windows and doorways. The activity in each room and the location of all cameras must be identified on the diagram.
(3) Description of cannabis activity that will be conducted in each area of the premises. Commercial cannabis activities that must be identified on the diagram may include but are not limited to the following if applicable to the business operations; storage, batch sampling, loading/unloading of shipments, packaging and labeling, customer sales, extractions, infusions, processing and testing.
(4) Limited-access areas, defined as areas in which cannabis goods are stored or held and only accessible to a licensee, its employee or contractors. Areas used for video surveillance monitoring and storage devices (Pursuant to BCC §5000 (m) and §5042.)
(5) Number and location of all video surveillance cameras.
C. Identify intrusion alarm and monitoring system including the name and contact information for the monitoring company.
D. Discuss whether the Commercial Cannabis Business will utilize the services of on-site security guards. Include in the discussion:
(1) Number of guards.
(2) Hours guards will be on-site.
(3) Locations at which they will be positioned.
(4) Their roles and responsibilities.
(12) Community Benefits and Investments Plan: The application should describe all benefits the Commercial Cannabis Business will provide to the local community. Benefits may be in the form of volunteer services, monetary donations to local nonprofit organizations, financial support of City sponsored activities or organizations, in-kind donations to the City or other charitable organizations and/or any other economic incentives to the City, investment in prevention and youth diversion programs.
(13) Payment of Applicant Fee: Each applicant shall pay the applicable fee(s) pursuant to this Chapter established by resolution of the City Council.
(14) Indemnification Agreement: To the fullest extent permitted by local, state and/or federal law, the City of Chico shall not assume any liability whatsoever with respect to having issued a Commercial Cannabis Permit or other entitlements, or otherwise approving the operation of any commercial cannabis business. As a condition to the approval of any Commercial Cannabis Permit and to the execution and approval of other entitlements, the Owner is to execute a separate Indemnification Agreement prepared by the City that fully indemnifies the City for all liabilities associated with the Commercial Cannabis Permit, the Commercial Cannabis Permittee’s Commercial Cannabis Activities, and any action taken by the Cannabis Permittee. The Indemnification Agreement shall include the defense of the City and reimbursement of all fees, costs and expenses incurred by the City related to any action arising from the Agreement.
(15) Any person seeking to obtain a Commercial Cannabis Permit shall submit a written application to the City, dated and signed under penalty of perjury, using the application form adopted by the City for that purpose. The application shall be accompanied by a deposit which is an estimated initial cost fee established by resolution of the City Council, to defray the costs incurred by the City in the application process set forth in this Chapter. Applicants are advised that they may be required to pay additional amounts as required for the sole purpose of the City’s completion of the application review process. Initial application fees are non- refundable; however, any remaining balance not used from the fee resulting in the Applicant not participating in subsequent phases of the process will be returned to the Applicant.
(16) As part of the application process, the applicant shall be required to obtain all required land use approvals, including other entitlements, if and when applicable, from the City, including a certification from the Community Development Department Director, or their designee, certifying that the proposed site meets all of the requirements of the Chico Zoning Ordinance.
(17) As a condition precedent to the City’s issuance of a Commercial Cannabis Permit pursuant to this Chapter, any person intending to open and to operate a commercial cannabis business shall provide sufficient evidence of the legal right to occupy and to use the proposed location. In the event the proposed location will be leased from another person, the applicant shall be required to provide a signed and notarized statement from the owner of the property, acknowledging that the property owner has read this Chapter and CMC 5.42 and consents to the potential operation of the commercial cannabis business on the owner’s property.
(18) Background Check. Pursuant to California Penal Code Sections 11105(b)(11) and 13300(b)(11), which authorizes City authorities to access state and local summary criminal history information for employment, licensing, or certification purposes; and authorizes access to federal level criminal history information by transmitting fingerprint images and related information to the Department of Justice to be transmitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, every applicant and responsible person of the commercial cannabis business must submit fingerprints and other information deemed necessary by the Chico Police Department, or the City’s law enforcement agency, for a background check. No person shall be issued a permit to operate a commercial cannabis business unless they have first cleared the background check, as determined by the City of Chico or the Chico Police Department as required by this section. A fee for the cost of the background investigation, which shall be the actual cost to the City of Chico to conduct the background investigation, as it deems necessary and appropriate, shall be paid at the time the application for a Commercial Cannabis Permit is submitted.
(19) The Chief of Police may, at his/her discretion, require applicants to utilize a third-party provider for purposes of conducting the criminal background check. The Third-party background check may serve in place of, or in addition to, the criminal background check performed by the Chico Police Department, as described in Section 5.42.105(A) of the Chico Municipal Code.
(Res. No. 45-20 §1 (part), Ord. 2589 §3)