Background

• October 12, 2020 - City Council unanimously endorsed a framework for commercial cannabis regulations. 
• November 2020 - Voters approved Measure I, a ballot measure for the taxation of cannabis. 
• November 23, 2020 - City Council viewed a draft of the Regulatory Ordinance (Chapter 6.420) and a Resolution for the Maximum Number of Businesses and Buffers from Sensitive Uses.   
• February 8, 2021 - City Council approved the first reading of the Regulatory Ordinance (Chapter 6.420) and Zoning Ordinance (Section 24.105.200).  Council approved a Resolution for the Maximum Number of Businesses and Buffers from Sensitive Uses. 
• February 24, 2021 - City Council approved the second reading of the Regulatory Ordinance (Chapter 6.420) and Zoning Ordinance (Section 24.105.200)  (City Council Meeting Video).
• March 8, 2021 - City Council approved the cannabis permit application fees and an agreement for a cannabis consultant to assist the City with the application evaluation process, as well as with background checks, compliance, and auditing.  (City Council Meeting Video) (Staff Report for Item 9G - consultant agreement) (Staff Report for Item 12A - cannabis fees)
• May 10, 2021 - A public hearing was held at which City Council authorized, by resolution, the submittal of a Local Coastal Program (LCP) Amendment to the California Coastal Commission to allow commercial cannabis businesses to operate in the City's Coastal Zone.  For a draft of the LCP Implementation Plan Amendment, see the "Draft Local Coastal Program Amendment" section below.  (City Council Meeting Video)  (Staff Report for Item 12C)
• June 14, 2021 - City Council received an update regarding the commercial cannabis business permit application process and criteria.  (City Council Meeting Video)  (Staff Report for Item 9F)

Draft Local Coastal Program Amendment

• Local Coastal Program (LCP) Amendment - 
  
  • May 10, 2021 - City Council held a public hearing and adopted Resolution no. 2021-041, authorizing the submittal of an amendment to the City's Local Coastal Program (LCP) with an addition to the Implementation Plan (IP) to the California Coastal Commission in order to allow commercial cannabis businesses to operate in the City's Coastal Zone. 
  • Notice of Availability of Draft LCP Implementation Plan (IP)Amendment
  • Draft LCP IP Amendment

Approved Ordinances and Resolutions

• San Buenaventura Municipal Code Chapter 6.420 - Commercial Cannabis Businesses
• Ordinance no. 2021-005 - zoning ordinance amending Section 24.105.200
• Resolution no. 2021-009 - maximum number of businesses and buffers from sensitive uses
• Resolution no. 2021-015 - adopting a schedule of fees for services relating to commercial cannabis business permits
• Ordinance no. 2020-028 - cannabis tax ordinance
• Resolution no. 2021-041 - authorization to submit a Local Coastal Program Amendment to the California Coastal Commission to allow for commercial cannabis businesses to operate in the City's Coastal Zone

Commercial Cannabis Business Permit Application Process, Period 1 - Closed

Timeline

NOTE: Timeframes are subject to substantial changes. The timeline assumes minimal appeals after each phase.  If numerous appeals are filed after any phase, this would cause significant changes to the timeline. 

Application Materials for Period 1 

This application period closed August 11, 2021.  The City is no longer accepting applications until Application Period 2.

The window for Application Period 2 is pending a final decision from the CA Coastal Commission. 

Application documents for Commercial Cannabis Business Permits Application Period 1 were released June 21, 2021.  The application materials may be found below.  The video for the Orientation, held June 23, 2021 can be found at the bottom of this section.  

Application Materials

• Commercial Cannabis Business Permit Application Procedures & Guidelines - revised 7/7/21
• Commercial Cannabis Business Permit Application
• Ownership Acknowledgement Form
• Financial Responsibility, Indemnity and Consent to Inspection Terms AND Agreement on Limitations of City's Liability, and Certifications, Assurances, Warranties, and Indemnification to City
• Property Owner Consent Form

Criminal Background Check Link

At the beginning of the application process, each Owner must undergo a criminal history background check to demonstrate they do not provide “good cause” for denial per SBMC Section 6.420.200 (c). This will consist of a provisional background check by means of an online portal at Formstack.

Zoning Verification

You must submit a Zoning Verification Letter with your completed application packet.  This letter must be requested from our Community Development Department by Monday, July 26, 2021 for timely processing.

NOTE: Application Period 1 does not allow cannabis business permits in the Coastal Zone.  A request for a Zoning Verification Letter for a property located in the Coastal Zone will not be processed.

The Process

You may request a Zoning Verification Letter from Community Development by submitting your request through the Web Portal.  The application type is "Permit Application".  Provide your contact information, the property address, and the type of cannabis business for which you are applying for a permit (retail, distribution, etc.).  

There is a mandatory field on the web portal requiring that a pdf document be uploaded.  There is no specific document pertaining to the cannabis application that must be uploaded here, however, the system will not allow you to move forward without uploading a document.  You may create a pdf with your contact information, property address, and business type and upload this.  

Timeliness

The review process takes approximately 10 working days so you must consider the timeliness of your request in order to receive it back in time to submit it with your application.  You should submit your request no later than Monday, July 26, 2021.  After submitting the request, the City will generate an invoice in approximately 2 days and email it to the email provided by applicant with instructions about how to make a credit card payment.  The verification process will not begin until payment has been received.

For more information about the Zoning Verification Letter, please see the Application Procedures & Guidelines.

Orientation Video

The Cannabis Orientation "Kick Off" Meeting was held Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 3:00 pm.  At the Orientation, City staff and the consultant reviewed the application materials and answered questions about the application and supplemental documents.  Be sure to watch the Orientation Video to hear all answers and additional information provided.  Click on the image below to watch the video.

Application Period 1 - Closed

Phase III Finalists and Map

Per the Application Guidelines and Procedures document, “Upon the completion of Phase III, the City Manager’s designees will tabulate the aggregate scores of all applicants from Phase II and Phase III to create a preliminary final ranking which will form the basis for determining who will be invited to participate in the Public Meeting”.  

Only the top 8 retail applicants, plus the distribution applicant, were invited to participate in the Community Meeting on July 18, 2022.  See the list of finalist applicants below.

Click on the map to open in a new page.

Cannabis Community Meeting Recap

On July 18, 2022, community members heard from finalists applying for commercial cannabis permits and shared feedback on the proposed applicants and locations.

To watch the meeting, visit the City's YouTube channel: 

City's YouTube Channel

Note: Due to technical difficulties, audio interferences occur until the 22:52 marker. The video does include closed captioning.

Applicants' PowerPoint Presentations

Due to technical difficulties, these PowerPoint presentations were not available during the community meeting.  They are posted below for review.  Note: The order below only reflects the order in which presentations were conducted at the meeting and does not reflect any current ranking.

Distribution Applicant:

• Ventura’s Finest – 3037 Golf Course Dr Ste 3

Retail Applicants:

• Shryne Ventura LLC – 1860 S Victoria Ave
• Haven #2 LLC – 1981 S Victoria Ave
• 805 Reefinery Inc – 4475 Dupont Court #12 and #13
• MOM Ventura LLC – 3868 E Main St
• Responsible and Compliant Retail Ventura LLC – 1890 E Main St
• TAT Ventura LLC – 2835 E Main St
• ZASA LLC – 4591 Market St
• Harbor Management Group LLC – 5801 Valentine Rd

Buffers

Buffers are only one layer of regulatory protection for the community.  Buffers are imperfect tools, but are intended to screen out locations that could not possibly be appropriate. The rest of the intensive application process will include review and scoring of applications by City departments, including the Police Department, and a public meeting where public comment can be received and factored in.

The City Council approved a resolution for the buffers from sensitive uses.  The buffers will be 600 feet around elementary, middle, and high schools, whether public, private, or charter, and this will be measured from the front door of the cannabis business to the property line of the sensitive use.

• Resolution for the Maximum Number of Businesses and Buffers from Sensitive Uses

Please note: The City will not accept applications in the Coastal Zone for Application Period 1 (June 28 - August 11).

In addition, the following are some "soft buffers", which are not in the resolution, but that will be included in the merit-based application.  This means that points will be deducted for proximity to these locations/buffers.

• Daycare and youth centers were not included in the resolution for sensitive use buffers, BUT points may be deducted for proximity to those locations.
• A “well-traveled path to schools” will also be a soft buffer.  

**More information about Location and Neighborhood Compatibility criteria will be released when the application becomes available.**

Interactive Map

The interactive map is intended to provide you with the ability to see what the 600' buffer around sensitive uses will look like.  If any part of a property touches a buffer, then that site is ineligible to even apply to locate a cannabis business at that location.  Please note, in addition to these buffers, there will be application criteria for location and neighborhood compatibility that will effect an application evaluation.  See the Application Procedures & Guidelines for the locational criteria.  Zoning verifications must be formally requested and submitted as part of the application process.  Details can be found in the Application Procedures & Guidelines. Use of this map will not be a verification of zoning.

Instructions

The recommended browser to view the map is Chrome.

• Properties in shades of pink are potential locations for retail cannabis businesses.
• Properties in shades of light blue are potential locations for retail and industrial cannabis businesses.
• Be sure to click the "600' School Buffer" to apply the buffer to the map.  
• Be sure to click the Coastal Zone Buffer.  The City will not accept applications in the Coastal Zone for Application Period 1 (June 28 - August 11, 2021).

City Council approves increase for commercial cannabis permits 

In October 2022, three commercial cannabis permits were conditionally awarded. The five Phase IV applicants who were not awarded conditional permits appealed that decision. 

On Monday, July 24, 2023, City Council voted to approve an increase in the number of commercial cannabis business permits from five to a total of six. The City will conduct a new partial Phase IV process by which the five appellants can compete for all three remaining available cannabis permits. 

The Community Development Department published a report on the five appellant applications on Thursday, July 27, 2023. Appellants will have until July 31, 2023, to submit a five-page letter in support of their applications to the City.  

Appellants will then give one-hour presentations to the City Manager on Wednesday, August 9, 2023. The presentations will be live-streamed only and not open to public in-person attendance. An online public comment form will be open from August 10-18, 2023.  

The final decision from the City Manager will be issued on or by August 31, 2023.   

Important dates:  

• July 24: City Council approves resolution increasing commercial cannabis business permits to six. Link to staff report 
• July 27: Community Development published a report on appellants' applications  
• July 31: Deadline for appellants to submit five-page letters to the City Manager 
• August 9: Presentations to City Manager; see schedule below. View presentation here 
  • 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Shryne Ventura, LLC
  • 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - 805 Reefinery, Inc
  • 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Haven #2, LLC
  • 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. -  Harbor Management Group, LLC dba SafePort
  • 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - MOM Ventura, LLC dba Megan's Organic Market
• August 10-August 18: Public input period. 
• August 31: Final decision from City Manager