Supervisors have approved fees and a four-phase plan to process applications for medical marijuana storefronts, which will include preferential treatment for Marin-based applicants and require potential operators to explain their dispensary’s benefits.
Under the plan, which supervisors approved on Tuesday, the county could start issuing licenses by early 2017. Up to four storefronts are allowed in unincorporated Marin, two in the urban corridor and two in West Marin.
Supervisor Damon Connolly suggested that changes could come as they implement the plan but expressed support for it. “It’s quite likely we haven’t thought of everything. This is going to be an organic process, no pun intended, going forward. But I think we at least have an affective starting point here.”
But some residents are still worried—on the one hand, about the presence of storefronts in neighborhoods, and on the other hand about the power landlords will have over the application process.
The plan calls for applications this summer, followed by internal review by county staffers. Then a five-member advisory committee comprised of current or former elected officials, administrators, health leaders and perhaps others will make a recommendation following a public presentation from applicants. The county administrator will make a final decision by 2017, although appeals to the Board of Supervisors could add delays.
Hopeful operators have a laborious path in front of them. Among the host of requirements are a business plan, a security plan, an operating plan, a site plan, an explanation of the dispensary’s compatibility with the neighborhood and a “public benefit plan.”
That last plan, the Community Development Agency hopes, will winnow down what they expect to be a large pool of applicants. It will require information on the public benefits of the dispensaries—for instance, will they offer a living wage, be locally owned, have eco-friendly certification or provide access to low-income residents? (Before approving the plan, supervisors requested that access for veterans be another benefit criteria.)
The information will help staffers identify the “exceptional applicants,” said Tom Lai, assistant director of the agency.
Applicants also face significant fees, which are a way to avoid dipping into the county’s general fund to pay for the licensing program. Just submitting an application will cost $6,000, and approved licensees will pay a $12,000 annual deposit to cover the cost of responding to complaints.
At a public hearing on Tuesday, a few residents protested the ordinance itself, citing concerns over the possible effects on kids and proximity to homes.
Other speakers, including a few who said they plan to apply, expressed frustration over a requirement for landlord approval. There are already relatively few possible sites—only 134 sites in West Marin and 50 sites in urban Marin–that comply with the ordinance’s zoning and buffer rules;critics argued the plan put too much power in the hands of landlords, whom they suggested would sign off on the highest rent they can get instead of choosing the best overall operator.
The licenses “could almost be called golden tickets at this point,” said Tyler Higgins of San Rafael. “I think everyone is aware that the lack of available parcels is a significant supply and demand issue… it’s created quite a frenzy.”
Critics suggested a two-step process: the county should choose the best applicants first, and those can later apply with a site in mind.
But that would require amending the ordinance, which supervisors unanimously approved in December. Supervisor Conolly said the board had to strike a hard balance; a previous draft of the ordinance proposed requiring a lease, but after people said that posed too onerous a burden for applicants who had no idea if they would snag one of the few licenses, they scrapped that condition.
County staff say the ordinance will work in conjunction with the state medical marijuana law passed in October, which will come into force in 2018. But Supervisor Steve Kinsey asked, near the end of the hearing, what would happen if an upcoming state ballot measure—the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana initiative—makes it onto the November ballot and passes. Will medical marijuana be obsolete?
Mr. Lai responded that the county may need to revisit the program, but it’s possible that full legalization would result in two sets of regulations—one for recreational weed and another for medical-grade marijuana.