County releases results for Meyers Commercial Cannabis businesses
Submitted by paula on Fri, 03/05/2021 - 1:56pm
EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif.- After months of waiting, the El Dorado County Planning and Building Department has released the results of its Meyers Commercial Cannabis Retail Selection merit based scoring.
After receiving input from the County’s Sheriff’s Department, Air Quality Management District and the Planning Division, the Planning and Building Department announced the finalist from a short list of three applications.
The three- Embarc, Charles Boldwyn and Tahoe Honey Company - are vying for the single cannabis retail business being allowed in the Meyers town center. With 20 points, Embarc, who has a cannabis business in South Lake Tahoe, lead the group, followed by Boldwyn with 19 points and Tahoe Honey with 16. Embarc has proposed going into the current gym location. Boldwyn was purchasing the old wedding chapel for his business, and Tahoe Honey Company was planning on going into the pizza business. All three are on U.S. 50 in Meyers.
"We are excited to expand Embarc’s presence and community relationships in the Tahoe basin," said the owner of the property where Embarc is going, Greg Daum. "We look forward to providing patients and customers access to cannabis at a second location."
Scores were based on the following equally-rated criteria: Distance to a residence, security plan, odor control plan, background check, and plan to prevent theft and access to cannabis and cannabis products by individuals under the age of 21 unless they have a valid medical cannabis card.
The selected applicant must submit a full Commercial Cannabis Retail Application and the associated application fee within five business days of being notified of their selection.
Applications were independently scored by the departments with expertise in the corresponding fields and the individual category scores were not shared or discussed between departments during the scoring process. The scoring criteria are generally described as follows, with more refined criteria for each category that may be viewed on Planning’s website:
1. A score of 1 barely meets the minimum standards to be considered complete
2. A score of 2 marginally goes beyond minimum standards
3. A score of 3 exceeds minimum standards but is still an average plan
4. A score of 4 is greater than average but less than the best plan
5. A score of 5 is the best possible submittal
The scores:
Embarc- 20 points
Distance to a residence - 2
Security Plan - 4
Odor Control Plan - 5
Background Check - 5
Plan to prevent theft and access - 4
Charles Boldwyn - 19 points
Distance to a residence - 1
Security Plan - 5
Odor Control Plan - 3
Background Check - 5
Plan to prevent theft and access - 5
Tahoe Honey Company- 16 points
Distance to a residence - 3
Security Plan - 4
Odor Control Plan - 4
Background Check - 1
Plan to prevent theft and access - 4
If the selected applicant fails to submit a complete Application and applicable payment within 5 business days of the date of this letter, that applicant will be disqualified and the applicant that scored second will be given the opportunity to submit a full application and payment within 5 business days of notification.
Similarly, if the applicant that scored second does not submit a full application within 5 business days of notification, the applicant scored third will be given the opportunity to submit a full application and payment within five days of notification.
After the full application has been deemed complete by the County, the applicant will follow the outlined Conditional Use Permit process. All information submitted as part of this scoring process must be included in the full application.
Compliance with the Security Plan, Odor Control Plan, and Plan to Prevent Theft and Access submitted for this scoring process will be included as conditions in any permit granted. Changes in the project or plans that negatively impact or reduce key components of those plans may be grounds for disqualification given the reliance on those plans during the scoring process.