South Lake Tahoe cannabis ordinance approved

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Analogies of touchdowns and goals were given to today's approval of a cannabis ordinance for South Lake Tahoe, the culmination of many months of meetings, discussion, disagreements and committee work.

On March 7, 2019, South Lake Tahoe will have a cannabis ordinance, opening the door to retail sales, cultivation, manufacturing, and lab testing businesses.

But don't expect to see storefronts and other cannabis businesses right away as operators will first have to obtain a valid Cannabis Use Permit issued by the city for their location, a development agreement with the city for use of the property as a cannabis business, and a valid Cannabis Public Safety License issued by the city to the owner and/or operator.

The new ordinance passed the Council by a vote of 3-1 with Councilwoman Tamara Wallace the lone dissent (Councilman Cody Bass has to recuse himself from the vote but he participated from the audience as the owner of Tahoe Wellness Collective.)

Some highlights of the new ordinance:

An owner and/or operator of a cannabis business may not own or operate more than one cannabis business within the city.

There will be no more than two retailers are permitted in the city, unless one or both of the permitted Microbusinesses do not include a retailer component, in which case an additional retailer shall be permitted for each microbusiness without a retailer component, up to a limit of no more than four retailers in the city.

No more than two Microbusinesses are permitted in the city.

No more than two Cultivators are permitted in the city.

No more than four Manufacturers are permitted in the city.

No more than one cannabis business may exist in the same suite or unit but they can operate in the same business area.

No distributors are permitted in the city unless one or both of the permitted microbusinesses do not include a distributor component, in which case a distributor shall be permitted for each microbusiness without a distributor
component, up to a limit of no more than two Distributors in the city.

Tahoe Wellness Collective will be able to operate separately from the above licenses as it was grandfathered in, so in essence, there will be up to five retailers in South Lake Tahoe. They will be able to operate for three years before having to conform to the new ordinance.

The approved businesses will have to be located in the maps (see above) designated for their type of operation.

The cultivation of cannabis for commercial purposes shall only be
cultivated within a fully enclosed space up to 5,000 square feet.

Residents can still grow up to six plants in their homes for personal use, but all growing for sales is not allowed.

One type of cannabis business not covered in the ordinance at this time is delivery services. The State of California's Bureau of Cannabis Control allows pot deliveries to anywhere in the state, including the 85 percent of towns that currently have no ordinance in place.

Many law enforcement groups, the California League of Cities, and the owner of Tahoe Wellness Cooperative, Cody Bass, oppose this move, saying it erodes local control and disrupts ordinances in place already.

Bass wanted Council to hold off on approving the ordinance until they could add a provision in the ordinance that would ban outsiders without a local license coming into town with up to $5,000 of product at any given time.

"We have done this much work," said Bass. "Open to 800 delivery services (that could come into South Lake Tahoe) is not the best."

The Council agrees with that suggestion addition but wanted to get the ordinance approved as presented, then make a change in the near future.

Prior to operating in the city and as a condition of issuance of a Cannabis Use
Permit, each cannabis business shall enter into a development agreement with the City. Applications can be submitted between March 11 and April 5. Then, once the Development Services Department received them they have 60 days to review and score.

Approved licensees will also need a Public Safety License.