(a) The Mayor and City Council shall adopt by Resolution, a procedure guideline and Review Criteria by which the top applicants in each category of each commercial cannabis business will be presented to the Mayor and City Council for a final determination at a public hearing.
(b) The top final applicants for each category may be invited to attend the Mayor and City Council meeting, only if requested by the City Manager or his/her designee where they may be expected to make a public presentation introducing their team and providing an overview of their proposal. In order to provide adequate time, presentations may be divided over more than one meeting over multiple days as determined to be necessary.
(c) At least ten (10) calendar days prior to the hearing, notice of the hearing shall be sent to all property owners located within six hundred (600) feet of the proposed business locations of each of the finalists to be considered by the Mayor and City Council.
(d) The Mayor and City Council shall either deny or approve the final candidates and shall select the top candidates in each category of the commercial cannabis businesses. The Mayor and City Council's decision as to the selection of the prevailing candidates shall be final.
(e) Official issuance of the commercial cannabis business permit(s), however, is conditioned upon the prevailing applicant(s) obtaining all required land use approvals. Following the Mayor and City Council's selection, the prevailing applicant(s) shall apply to the City's Department of Community Development and Housing to obtain any required land use approvals or entitlements for the permittee's location, if any. Land use approvals shall include compliance with all applicable provisions of CEQA. The City Manager or his/her designee(s) shall formally issue the commercial cannabis business permit(s) once the Director of Community Development and Housing or his/her designee(s) affirms that all of the required land use approvals have been obtained.
(f) Issuance of a commercial cannabis business permit does not create a land use entitlement or serve as a building permit. The commercial cannabis business permit shall only be for a term of three (3) years, and shall expire at the end of the three (3) year period unless it is renewed as provided herein. Furthermore, no permittee may begin operations, notwithstanding the issuance of a permit, unless all of the state and local laws and regulations, including but not limited to the requirements of this Chapter, applicable building permits, and conditions of the commercial cannabis business permit, have been complied with. Until a state license is available and obtained by the permittee, this means compliance with all provisions of the Medical Cannabis Collective Laws as set forth at Section 5.10.060.
(g) Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter to the contrary, the Mayor and City Council reserves the right to reject any or all applications if it 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 term. Each applicant assumes the risk that, at any time prior to the issuance of a permit, the Mayor and City Council may terminate or delay the program created under this Chapter or otherwise revise, amend, or repeal this Chapter.
(h) If an application is denied, a new application may not be filed for one (1) year from the date of the denial.
(i) Each person granted a commercial cannabis business permit shall be required to pay the permit fee established by resolution of the Mayor and City Council, to cover the costs of administering the commercial cannabis business permit program created in this Chapter.
(Ord. MC-1625, 2-21-24; Ord. MC-1503, 9-05-18; Ord. MC-1464, 3-07-18)