OCEANSIDE — Though the odds are slim, the city could see as many as six cannabis dispensaries open over the next 2½ years.
Last year, the City Council agreed to allow four storefront cannabis retailers to operate in the city. The decision included a streamlined review process for the city’s two existing operators, MedLeaf and Noble Victory LLC, which is associated with Left Coast. The companies received the first two licenses.
March and Ash earned the third license after receiving the highest score among the remaining applicants. Embarc, Green Venture Farms and Oceanside Retail OPCO tied for the fourth license.
To resolve the tie, city staff presented the City Council with three options on Aug. 19. The first — and staff-recommended option — was to select the recipient through a blind public lottery. The second was to award licenses to all three applicants, increasing the total number of licenses from four to six. The third was to identify another method for choosing among the applicants.
Before the council’s decision, the three tied applicants jointly asked the city to award each of them a license because they had been deemed equally qualified during the review process.
Several people associated with the tied applicants spoke in favor of awarding all three licenses.
Dustin Moore, co-founder of Embarc, noted that the council had previously rejected a lottery in favor of a merit-based system.
Others argued that all six licensees were unlikely to open stores but that issuing the additional licenses would increase the likelihood of Oceanside ultimately having four dispensaries.
“It doesn’t guarantee they will open. Rarely, if ever, do all locations actually open,” said Daniel Firtel, chief executive officer and majority owner of Oceanside Retail OPCO. “This gives the city the best chance to have four and mitigates potential lawsuits from those who don’t get what they want. It’s a win-win to a problem that the city has.”
Thompson also told the City Council that the city could collect more cannabis tax revenue by issuing the additional licenses.
Once applicants receive a license, they must obtain a conditional use permit from the city within one year, or the license will be revoked. They must then open the store within 18 months or lose the license.
If one applicant fails to open, that license will expire and will not be awarded to another applicant. If two applicants fail to open, both licenses will be lost, and the city will revert to its four-license cap.
Not everyone supported the two additional licenses.
Attorney Tamara Rozmus, who represented the three applicants that had already received licenses, urged the city to retain its four-license cap, citing the city’s limited setback requirements for cannabis operators.
Under the regulations, dispensaries may not operate within 1,000 feet of a middle or high school or within 550 feet of other public or private schools.
Rozmus also recalled comments made last year by Mayor Esther Sanchez and Councilmember Jimmy Figueroa about the potential effects of regulated businesses such as cannabis dispensaries on the city’s youth.
“Increasing the cap ignores this community concern,” Rozmus said.
Sanchez and Figueroa opposed awarding the additional licenses.
