Goleta is trying to figure out how to accommodate the complaints of would-be cannabis retailers and to do it quickly. The length of time it’s taking to process their applications — most were filed last August — and the fact that the existing ordinances are changing are among their loudest complaints. But neither the Planning Commission nor the City Council is fond of the solution the city’s planning staff is devising to try to please everyone, which is to put the land-use issues into the cannabis business license. The citizens who spoke at Monday’s Planning Commission meeting like the entire industry even less.
Cannabis merchants must obtain a business license from the city; those are fairly straightforward, accompanied by strict regulation by the state. The city’s cannabis ordinances, enacted in July, require land use permits, which require public hearings. Outright denial is a possibility if enough protest is heard. To streamline the process for a lucrative new business, buttressed by the extensive regulations in the state’s license, why not put the land-use issues, which could be defined, in the business license? One-stop shopping!
What has happened since that idea began floating to the surface is that 15 applications, the maximum allowed in Goleta, have been filed. Nine were in Old Town. Three were eliminated as being too close together. City officials are now being asked to define how close is too close, also how much of a “no-go” zone should surround a “sensitive receptor” (i.e., school) or home? And should those land-use answers go on a simple line in a business license application?