Costa Mesa is poised to cap the number of cannabis retailers allowed to operate in the city at 35, along with adding new regulations dictating where stores can’t be located, after the City Council this week agreed to start making changes.
The cap at 35, higher than the Planning Commission’s suggested 30, gives retailers that made it beyond the pre-application stage for a permit hope to be able to still open their businesses. So far, 10 businesses have been issued permits to open their storefronts, another 12 are approved and just finishing the last steps for opening.
After 35 permits have been issued, new applications for cannabis permits wouldn’t be processed until the number of retailers in the city falls below 10, which would come with businesses closing.
The vote was 6-1 with Mayor John Stephens against the change.
Costa Mesa is one of three cities in the county, along with Santa Ana and Stanton, that allow cannabis retail storefronts. It initially set no cap on how many retailers would be allowed to open, though it has some requirements for acceptable locations.
The council also approved increasing the separation requirements between cannabis retails and youth centers, such as schools and daycares, to 1,000 feet from 600. New cannabis stores would also have to be at least 250 feet away from residentially zoned areas.
Tuesday’s changes will be voted on again at a future City Council meeting before becoming law.
The changes come after residents spoke out against the number of dispensaries opening in the city in recent years.
Jay Humphrey, a resident and former City Council candidate, said the changes the city is undertaking could have been done earlier.
“Had all these standards been in place before we took any applications … we may have easily as many (retailers), just in different places,” Humphrey said. “They wouldn’t have started bunching up, they wouldn’t have started doing a whole bunch of things that drew public attention…
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