OCEANSIDE — A locally owned cannabis distribution company received final approval from the City Council to operate within the Oceanside Gateway Business Park alongside a separate cannabis company.
Herb Girl, Inc. will operate in the northern portion of an existing building located at 129 Ord Way off Oceanside Boulevard. Left Coast, a cannabis manufacturing and distribution facility, has been operating as a tenant in the building’s southern portion since 2020.
Mark and Linzie Campbell, Herb Girl’s father-daughter ownership team, have owned the building since 2009.
Since cannabis is considered a regulated use, the city code requires buffer zones between these types of businesses — e.g. tattoo shops, liquor stores, smoke shops and massage parlors — and residential districts, churches, schools and other sensitive sites.
A proposed cannabis business can apply for location waivers from the city and its conditional use permit to operate within the city.
In addition to a conditional use permit, a cannabis facility must have local and state licenses.
Herb Girl applied for a location waiver due to its proximity to its neighboring cannabis facility and less than 1,000 feet from a church, massage parlor and residential district. Staff claimed despite the proximity to these conflicting uses, the sensitive ones were separated by other physical barriers, such as the fenced-off Sprinter tracks serving as a buffer to the residential district or Oceanside Boulevard separating the church.
There is also a restriction preventing Herb Girl from operating on Sundays when the nearby church attendance is high.
Neither Left Coast nor Herb Girl offers storefront opportunities for the public, which means neither business attracts any foot traffic and would not create an “adult entertainment area,” according to Dane Thompson, a city planner.
The Planning Commission recommended the Oceanside City Council’s approval of Herb Girl in October 2022.
Born and raised in Oceanside, Linzie Campbell said she had a dream to make a women-owned cannabis facility become a reality. Linzie’s father, Mark Campbell, who owns several properties throughout Oceanside, also said the duo kept the business going in honor of her mother, a family business partner, before her death in 2019.
According to the younger Campbell, the business intends to donate 1% of its earnings to local charities starting with the Women’s Resource Center.
“At Herb Girl, our mission is to offer safe, tested and regulated cannabis products from a licensed and compliant source,” Linzie Campbell said.
Herb Girl received unanimous approval from Council.
While several local cannabis advocates spoke in favor of the new business, Program Manager Erica Leary of the North Coastal Prevention Coalition reminded the City Council that there is still work to be done to prevent marijuana usage amongst children.
“No one is advocating for youth access,” said Oceanside resident and cannabis advocate Amber Newman in response to Leary’s position.
Councilmember Ryan Keim confirmed with the Campbells that they would not be advertising marijuana products to children, which he felt Left Coast was guilty of when he previously denied their operation.
