San Diego City Council voted 8-1 Jan. 20 in favor of a package of amendments to medical marijuana regulations that, among other things, establishes a minimum fee of nearly $1,100 for annual operating permits.
The amendments pertain to an ordinance that sets the terms under which dispensaries will conduct their business. The operating regulations differ from land-use restrictions, which determine the allowable locations for pot shops.
Council wants the annual permit fee to equal the cost of inspections and other expenses needed to regulate the dispensaries. The city’s projected costs include the use of police officers to make background checks, fire personnel, zoning investigators, planners and City Treasury employees.
Dan Normandin, of the city’s Development Services Department, said the permit fee presented to the council was the smallest for a dispensary. Larger shops, with more employees and greater floor space, will face higher permit costs, he said.
Prospective owners of the medical marijuana facilities are currently going through a process to acquire another type of permit — a conditional use permit — that will allow them to open.
No legal dispensaries have opened within city limits. The application for the closest facility was submitted by a San Diego State University professor who wants to set up an establishment in Otay Mesa, near the Brown Field airport. Approval of his permit has been appealed. The city’s Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on the appeal Jan. 29. One legal dispensary operates on unincorporated county land near El Cajon. Numerous shops operating illegally have been shut down over the past year.
Once the legal dispensaries open, they’ll be limited to four per City Council district for a total of 36 within San Diego city limits. Councilwoman Lorie Zapf, whose District 2 covers the beachfront, cast the dissenting vote, calling the law vague on several fronts, including whether the city of the dispensary owner would pay for product testing.
– Fox 5