The Colusa City Council last week decided to kick the city’s cannabis ordinance back to the Planning Commission to consider adding teeth to odor control enforcement and capping the number of pot businesses that could be allowed to operate.
The decision came after months of complaints from citizens that Colusa could become the weed capital of the North State.
The council has approved nearly 20 developer agreements with cannabis operators since the city embraced the industry about five years ago, although not all projects have or will likely make it through tough economic times and the state’s rigid permitting process, officials said.
Colusa City Manager Jesse Cain said there are only seven cannabis businesses currently in operation and another six are in the process of acquiring state permits and licenses, which is a daunting task in itself.
Although the City Council just adopted the new cannabis ordinance (adding storefronts) on May 17, Professional Services Consultant Sadie Ash said citizens have been generally concerned about the lack of teeth to control nuisances and the number of pot shops that could crop up within city limits.
“What I found in reviewing everything is that there wasn’t so much of an issue with the ordinances as they are; it was with enforcement and follow up of the ordinances.”
Odor emitted from cultivation companies, both downtown and at Colusa Industrial Properties, have been the chief complaint from citizens, prompting officials to develop a smell reporting, tracking, and enforcement process at City Hall.
City officials have also put all pot companies on notice that they will be shut down if they can’t contain the pungent odor of marijuana, particularly when the weed begins to flower.
As for the number of facilities allowed, Ash recommended the Planning Commission and Council not only track but possibly set limits on the number of cultivation, manufacturing, dispensary, and retail licenses the city issues – and review the ordinance annually, just as they would fee schedules. The city is also implementing a mechanism for the city to more easily track cannabis revenue.
Ash said she had spoken with officials in other communities to develop Colusa’s procedures, which will include a thorough paper trail, although Colusa is unique in that the city allows more cannabis cultivation than others.
“In 2017, we didn’t know what we didn’t know,” she said. “We now have years actualized. We know what we like and what we don’t like and what our thresholds will be, so let’s start putting that in place so we can stay on top of it and manage it as a whole.”
Colusa Mayor Tom Reische recommended that individual members review the cannabis ordinance and provide input to city staff within the next few weeks to get the process going.
Any changes to the ordinance will require public hearings to be held by the Planning Commission and City Council before adoption.
In addition to new reporting procedures, the city anticipates selecting a contractor in October to audit the financials to determine if the city has received all entitled revenue from the companies in operation, as per the terms of their agreements.
Since venturing into cannabis agreements with growers and distributors, the city has received about $1 million in revenue, an amount about 10 times lower than what the city had expected from an industry that continues to be challenged by a thriving black market and high taxation.
The city anticipates allocating about $750,000 as cash matches for street improvement grants, officials said. ■