Approval of cannabis ordinance in South Lake Tahoe greeted by applause

A unanimous vote of the South Lake Tahoe City Council brought applause from the audience during Monday’s special meeting. It has been months of expert testimony, community input, committee meetings, and almost two dozen public meetings that led to Monday’s approval of two new cannabis ordinances.

“You have done a remarkable job,” said local resident Oliver Starr on the Council’s sorting out what will be best for the community. Starr said they created an ordinance that is clean, safe and reputable.

“I thank all the experts who came to participate in the process and educate the council,” said Mayor Wendy David after the ordinance was approved. “This was a collaborative effort with the community, I appreciate all of your hard work,” added Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis.

That ordinance regulates cultivation, manufacturing, lab testing and retail sales of cannabis in the City limits. It repeals the old City Code that related only to medical marijuana now that adult use cannabis is legal in the state.

Still in place is the existing code allowing a resident to grow up to six plants in their home. That has not changed.

There will now be up to two licenses issued for retail sales, two for microbusinesses, two for cultivation and testing labs. Tahoe Wellness Cooperative, the medical marijuana dispensary in South Lake Tahoe since January 2009, will still be allowed to sell medical cannabis and not have to apply for the other permit types to do so.

City zoning will determine where the businesses can be located.

There can only be one cannabis business per lot or parcel and an owner of one business cannot own a second in the city limits.

Other restrictions for a cannabis business include:

Cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a school or 600 feet of a youth center or daycare center, and not within 150 feet of any park, religious institution, residential or outpatient facility licensed by the State or any hospital in existence at the time the cannabis permit is issued.

Those applying for cannabis permits and their employees must also undergo a background check and not have certain felonies on their record.

Owners of each cannabis business type will also need to enter into a development agreement with the City. Those who have the agreements prior to opening will also need to abide by the public outreach and education guidelines, community service and other terms and conditions in place to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare.

The new safety ordinance is a guideline for cannabis businesses to set up safe operations. They each must have security plans, surveillance systems with recordings the police can access, bans loitering around the business and not be a nuisance.

The related fees and taxes have not been set yet and will be addressed at the next City Council meeting.

This was the first reading, and adoption will be at the Council’s July 17 meeting. The ordinances would go into effect 30 days later.