(A) Pursuant to Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution, the county is authorized to adopt and enforce ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws to protect and promote the public health, safety, and welfare of its citizens, including, but not limited to, those which establish standards, requirements, and regulations for the licensing and permitting of commercial cannabis activity, security, and worker protections pursuant to the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (hereinafter "MAUCRSA"), and any subsequent state legislation and/or regulations regarding same. Any standards, requirements, and regulations established by the state or any of its departments or divisions, regarding commercial cannabis activity shall be the minimum standards applicable within the unincorporated area of the county.
(B) It is the purpose and intent of this chapter to implement the provisions of MAUCRSA by providing a licensing scheme as a means of regulating commercial cannabis activities, including, but not limited to, cultivation, delivery, dispensing, distribution, manufacture, processing, propagation, retail sale, storage, transportation, and laboratory testing, in the unincorporated area of the county in a manner that is consistent with state law and which balances the need to accommodate qualified patients with access to medicinal cannabis, the interests of persons 21 years of age and older choosing to access adult-use cannabis as authorized by the Control, Tax and Regulate the Adult Use Cannabis Act ("AUMA" or "Proposition 64" passed by California voters in 2016), and promotes the public health, safety, and general welfare.
(C) It is the further purpose and intent of this chapter to require all cannabis business owners and operators to obtain and renew annually, a permit to engage in certain commercial cannabis activities within the unincorporated area of the county.
(D) Further, it is the purpose and intent of this chapter to impose reasonable land use regulations to protect the county's residents, neighborhoods, businesses, and the environment from disproportionately negative impacts caused by commercial cannabis activity, and to enforce rules and regulations consistent with state law.
(E) Nothing in this chapter is intended, or shall be construed, to conflict with federal or state law, and/or to authorize the possession, use, or provision of cannabis, including any commercial cannabis activity, for purposes that violate state law and/or in violation of this chapter. It is the stated intent of this chapter to regulate commercial cannabis activity in the county in compliance with all provisions of the AUMA and MAUCRSA, and any subsequent state legislation, and for this chapter to be interpreted to be compatible with federal and state enactments and in furtherance of the public purposes that those enactments encompass.
(F). The provisions of this chapter are in addition to any other permits, licenses, and approvals which may be required to conduct business in the county, and are in addition to any permits, licenses, and approval required under state, county, or other law.
(Ord. 974, § 1, 2018)