FAQs • Ventura, CA • CivicEngage

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Cannabis Business Permit

1. Where are we in the cannabis business permits process?

Answer

Phase III, Part 2: Public Meeting – July 18

Finalists applying for commercial cannabis business permits will present at a Public Meeting on July 18, 2022 @ 6 pm in the Community Meeting Room at City Hall. Each applicant will have ten minutes to present and address the online submitted questions or community concerns related to the location or application submitted prior to July 13. There will be an in-person comment period for each applicant directly after their presentation. Note: There will not be an opportunity for follow up/responses or question/answer sessions at the meeting.

All feedback from the public meeting will be provided to the City Manager for use in his final decision.

The community is invited to get involved and share comments or questions on proposed locations and applicants by joining the in-person meeting or sharing feedback online (see How to Submit Public Comment above).

2. How have residents been notified about the Public Meeting?

Answer

Notices are being sent to property owners within 300 feet of the proposed cannabis businesses remaining in the selection process.
The Public Meeting information is posted to the City Cannabis Information webpage.
Additionally, a press release, social media, notice to Community Councils and an announcement at a City Council meeting will notify the public of the meeting.

3. What are the Next Steps following the Public Meeting?

Answer

Phase IV: City Manager’s Final Selection – August 2022

The City Manager will receive a report from City staff on the final applicants, including feedback from the public meeting, and will use this information to make a final decision pursuant to SBMC Section 6.420.230 (a)(5). Applicants may appeal Phase IV of the process.

4. What phases of evaluations have been completed so far?

Answer

Application Period 1 Closed August 11, 2021

Phase I: Determination of Eligibility

Phase II: Criteria Evaluation and Scoring

The City's consultant reviewed and scored Sections A-D of each application (Sections listed below). A description of the evaluation criteria being scored in this phase can be found in the Application Procedures & Guidelines (pgs. 8-10).

Section A - Business Plan
Section B - Labor, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan
Section C - Safety Plan
Section D - Security Plan

Phase III (Part 1 – Selection Committee): Further Evaluation, Interviews and Scoring

The Staff Selection Committee will conduct interviews using the evaluation criteria for Sections E-H of each application (Sections listed below). A description of the evaluation criteria scored in this phase can be found in the Application Procedures & Guidelines (pgs. 10-12).

Section A - Business Plan
Section B - Labor, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan
Section C - Safety Plan
Section D - Security Plan

5. When and how can I submit public comment about a dispensary? What happens with my comments?

Answer

How to submit public comment

The public may provide public comment (including comments, questions, and concerns) in two ways:

Written submissions at any time –

All written comments, questions, and concerns should be sent to the Cannabis Program staff at: [email protected] or mailed to: City Hall; Cannabis Program; 501 Poli Street; Ventura CA 93001. All written submissions will be addressed in the manner described below under “What happens with my comments?”.

Public Meeting –

The public may attend the Public Meeting, tentatively scheduled in 2022, to verbally express their site-specific concerns. Only the top applicants will be invited to attend the Public Meeting and the applicants will have an opportunity to respond to the specific concerns.

What happens with my public comment?

Verbal comments at the Public Meeting

The public will have the opportunity to provide site-specific public comment at the Public Meeting. The cannabis business applicants will have the opportunity to respond to public comment at the meeting.
Notes about the public comment will be taken at the meeting, as well as the responses from the applicants, and will be provided to the City Manager for his consideration in making his final decision.

For written submissions to [email protected] – see below.

Site-specific concerns

These will be provided to the staff selection committee to be considered when interviewing the business applicants to make sure issues are addressed before final selections.
Written comments submitted to [email protected] will be entered into the record at the public meeting.
If the dispensary is chosen as a finalist, this information will be provided to the City Manager with all other feedback for his consideration.

General questions

Please visit the City’s Cannabis Information webpage first, including the FAQs, as the answer may already be posted to the webpage. We will do our best to provide an answer to your question within 1 week.

Site-specific questions

During the evaluation process, most site-specific questions will not be answered. This is in effort to protect the integrity of the merit-based evaluation process. Please submit your questions, and City staff will work to determine the appropriate response that balances the confidentiality of the evaluation process with an effort to keep the community informed.

Public Records Act Requests

Public Records Act requests will not be completed at this time during the application evaluation process.

6. Can the public see the evaluations?

Answer

The City will not be posting evaluations or scores to protect the confidentiality required during the evaluation process.

7. How many cannabis business permits will be awarded?

Answer

Per City Council Resolution No. 2021-009, the Application Period 1 will only allow applications for commercial cannabis business permits in the non-Coastal Zone. Up to 3 retail permits and 10 industrial-type permits may be awarded during this application cycle.

The window for Application Period 2 is pending a final decision from the CA Coastal Commission. We anticipate this will not happen until 2023.

8. Is the City accepting cannabis business permit applications?

Answer

The City is currently conducting the first commercial cannabis business permit application period to allow up to 3 retail and 10 industrial-type permits. The window to submit applications is currently closed until the next application period which is not anticipated will open until 2023.

9. How can I get a cannabis delivery license only?

Answer

If you are looking for a delivery license only and are a cannabis business based in another city (not Ventura as you may not have a cannabis business here without first obtaining a commercial cannabis business permit), you may apply using the instructions on the Business Tax page at https://www.cityofventura.ca.gov/1556/Apply-for-Business-License

10. How can stay informed?

Sign up for our Notify Me feature to have updates sent directly to your email. When you Sign In and subscribe, not only will you receive Cannabis Updates, but your email address will be included in a list that will be used to notify subscribers when the application documents are released.

To subscribe, go to Notify Me, enter your email address, and scroll down to the News Flash section and click on the envelope next to Cannabis Updates. (Do not select text messages.)
You will then need to confirm your subscription in the confirmation email.
Cannabis Updates emails will be sent from "[email protected]" and will say "News Flash" in the subject line with the title of the update.