COLUSA, CA (MPG) – The Colusa City Council last week reversed a previous council’s decision to allow marijuana storefronts on Market Street, in shopping centers, and other commercial districts.
One year after the council asked the Colusa Planning Commission to take
a deep dive into the city’s cannabisordinance, the City Council on Nov. 7
adopted amendments that will greatly restrict the number of retail pot shops
that can operate in city limits – and relegate pot shops and micro business to
only light industrial, general industrial,or limited manufacturing zones.
The amended ordinance will become effective 30 days after final approval in
December, officials said. Once adopted, the new regulations will reverse the
unpopular April 2022 City Council decision that opened the door to cannabis storefronts operating virtually anywhere in the city, except in residential neighborhoods and 1,200 feet of a school.
“If we did that, there would be no putting that genie back in the bottle,”
said Mayor Greg Ponciano, who cast the only dissenting vote in 2022 to
block storefronts in general commercial zones.
The City Council’s decision this time around was unanimous, with the current
council taking a more cautious approach to the open sale of marijuana.
Ponciano said if retail cannabis proves to be successful, then a future city council may choose to then expand storefronts to the commercial districts.
“That would be the time to do it,” he said.
Officials said most of the work the Planning Commission, city staff, and the public have done on the ordinance over the past year – in meetings and workshops – was making sure Colusa’s ordinance complied with the changes and language within state law.
“They (Planning Commission) put a lot of time and effort into this,” said
City Manager Jesse Cain.
After one of the most conservative discussions on cannabis in the past
four years, the City Council was also unanimous in taking the Planning
Commission’s recommendation to allow just one licensed retail establishment to
operate within city limits with a special use permit, under strict monitoring.
“Eighteen months after the first cannabis business special use permit for a dispensary is issued, the City Managershall deliver a report to the City Council during a regular meeting which examines the positive and negative impacts that the cannabis dispensary has had on the community…” the ordinance states. “The report shall include, among other things, an analysis of how the cannabis dispensary has complied with state and local regulations, any positive or negative community and law enforcement impacts, and any revenue generated.”
Greenleaf Processors, located on the levee, and Greenceuticals, located on
Bridge Street, are the only two existing cannabis businesses near the downtown
that would be eligible to apply to have a retail establishment, given their light
industrial zoning. Cultivators out at Colusa Industrial Properties would also
be eligible.
Officials said if the council determines at any time there are no significant consequences that result from having a cannabis retail establishment in the city,
they may, at their own discretion, vote to expand the number of authorized cannabis dispensary special use permits to be issued up to a maximum of two.
“If the City Council takes no action, or finds that the impacts are unacceptable, then the maximum number and type of cannabis dispensaries authorized
shall continue to be limited to one,” the ordinance states.
The amended ordinance, as introduced at its first reading, will also allow
the outdoor cultivation of marijuana for personal use without onerous regulations or permits, if people do not grow more than the maximum six plants
per parcel, as allowed by the state; the plants are not visible from public
rights-of-way; and the grow is behind a secured fenced backyard.