(A) The city manager or his or her designee shall adopt the procedures to govern the application process, and the manner in which the decision will ultimately be made regarding the issuance of any commercial cannabis business permit(s), which shall include or require the city manager to provide detailed objective review criteria to be evaluated on a point system or equivalent quantitative evaluation scale tied to each set of review criteria ("review criteria"). The city manager or his or her designee(s) shall be authorized to prepare the necessary forms, adopt any necessary rules to the application, regulations and processes, solicit applications, and conduct initial evaluations of the applicants.
(B) At the time of filing, each applicant shall pay an application fee established by resolution of the city council, to cover all costs incurred by the city in the application process.
(C) After the initial review, ranking, and scoring under the review criteria, the city manager or his or her designee(s) will make a final determination in accordance with this section and shall either deny or approve the final candidates and shall select the top candidates in each category of the commercial cannabis businesses. Notwithstanding anything in this article to the contrary, the city manager's decision as to the selection of the prevailing candidates shall be final and shall not be subject to appeal.
(D) Official issuance of the commercial cannabis business permit(s) is conditioned upon the prevailing candidate(s) obtaining all required land use approvals and completing to the city's satisfaction all conditions of approval required for the site to be issued a certificate of occupancy and commercial cannabis business permit. Following the city manager's selection of the person who shall be issued a commercial cannabis business permit, the prevailing candidate(s) shall apply to the city's community development department to obtain required land use approvals or entitlements pursuant to Section 16-163. A special use permit (SUP) or a development design review (DDR) permit shall be required prior to the issuance of building permits. The SUP and DDR shall expire one year after issuance if the applicant has not diligently pursued obtaining the necessary building permits and complying with the conditions of approval needed for the business to open at the approved location. The permittee's location and use approvals shall include compliance with all applicable provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act. The community development director shall formally issue the commercial cannabis business permit(s) once the community development director or his or her designee(s) affirms that all of the required land use approvals have been obtained and all required conditions of approval have been complied with.
(E) Issuance of a commercial cannabis business permit does not create a land use entitlement. The commercial cannabis business permit shall only be for a term of 12 months and shall expire at the end of the 12-month period unless it is renewed as provided herein. Furthermore, no permittee may begin operations, notwithstanding the issuance of a commercial cannabis business permit, unless all of the State and local laws and regulations, including but not limited to the requirements of this article and of the permit, have been complied with.
(F) Notwithstanding anything in this article to the contrary, the city manager reserves the right to reject any or all applications if the city manager determines it would be in the best interest of the city, taking into account any health, safety and welfare impacts on the community. Applicants shall have no right to a commercial cannabis business permit until a permit is actually issued, and then only for the duration of the permit's term. Each applicant assumes the risk that, at any time prior to the issuance of a permit, the city council may terminate or delay the program created under this article.
(G) If an application is denied, a new application may not be filed for one year from the date of the denial.
(H) Each person granted a commercial cannabis business permit shall be required to pay the permit fee established by resolution of the city council, to cover the costs of administering the commercial cannabis business permit program created in this article.
(I) Preservation of rights. The city reserves the right to reject any or all applications. Prior to permit issuance by the city council, the city may also modify, postpone, or cancel any request for applications, or the entire program under this article, at any time without liability, obligation, or commitment to any party, firm, or organization, to the extent permitted under State law. Persons submitting applications assume the risk that all or any part of the program, or any particular category of permit potentially authorized under this article, may be canceled at any time prior to permit issuance. The city further reserves the right to request and obtain additional information from any candidate submitting an application. In addition to possible rejection for failure to comply with other requirements in this article, an applicant also risks being rejected for any of the following reasons:
(1) Proposal received after designated time and date.
(2) Proposal not containing the required elements, exhibits, nor organized in the required format.
(3) Proposal considered not fully responsive to the request for permit application.
(Ord. No. 2960, 2994, 3032)