South Lake Tahoe public cannabis forum to examine new ordinance

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - After the referendum to put a stop to the City of South Lake Tahoe's cannabis ordinance received enough signatures, the City Council has reconvened their subcommittee to create a new ordinance.

There will be a public forum on Monday, October 8 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers to gather public input regarding possible next steps for a cannabis ordinance.

At the October 2 Council meeting, members of the public spoke to voice their opinions about the success of the referendum, a couple in support but most calling foul to Cody Bass's process. Many already in the process of securing property and getting financing in place to apply for one of six development agreements had to put plans had to be put on hold, tying up thousands of dollars until a new ordinance can be created.

Bass, the executive director of Tahoe Wellness Cooperative, started getting signatures on a referendum because he wasn't going to be able to operate an adult-use cannabis business in the same location he operates his medical-use business due to zoning and license type issues. His medical-use business was grandfathered in but Bass said he wouldn't make money in that category once adult-use sales began. He wants to operate in the same manner in adult-use but didn't qualify under the new microbusiness model (too many license types) nor being located in the correct zone.

"We thought we had a finish line there," said Craig Ziegler, founder of CannaBlue.

Ziegler and many other potential cannabis owners in South Lake Tahoe had participated in the process as City Council formulated the City's first ever cannabis ordinance. They were part of months of expert testimony, community input, and public meetings. 30 community members met for 36 hours to come up with an ordinance that addressed concerns and presented it to the Council who approved it on July 3, 2018. The unanimous vote of the SLT City Council brought applause from the audience.

“You have done a remarkable job,” said local resident Oliver Starr at the July 3 meeting. Starr said they created an ordinance that is clean, safe and reputable.

It is now back to community meetings to look at what Bass said worked against him in the past ordinance that he said gave advantage to conglomerates to operate in South Lake Tahoe.

The Council had two choices on October 2, to repeal the ordinance in its entirety or to order the ordinance be put before the City’s voters at a future election. Instead they opted to seek further public input regarding both options as
well as to explore a third option of ‘significantly’ changing the ordinance that could then come before a future Council for consideration and implementation.

After the officially accepted the referendum's signatures the Council made sure there was a moratorium in place to prevent any cannabis businesses from starting before a decision was made. It is in place until December 7, 2018 and can be extended up to a year.

Whatever the outcome of the October 8 public forum, the matter will be brought back to the full City Council for discussion at their October 16 meeting.

The City Council Chambers are located at the South Lake Tahoe Airport, 1901 Airport Road.