FAIRFIELD — Two preliminary permits were approved by the City Council late Tuesday to operate the first retail pot shops in the city.
There were 14 applicants for the cannabis retail permits, each of which made presentations last week to the City Council. Dozens of public endorsements were heard during Tuesday’s public hearing, followed by 2-minute rebuttals by the company representatives.
The public comments ranged from past associations with the applicants, proposed locations of the outlets, business practices, knowledge in the industry, community commitment, product prices, security, local ownership and the pros and cons related to union representation and other employee relations matters.
Many of the speakers were employees of the various applicants.
In the end, with a final decision coming at 11:40 p.m., the council awarded preliminary permits to Responsible and Compliant Retail (Embarc), with a proposed location at 180 Serrano Ave., Suite A; and to JJVI (Bright Spot), which has a proposed location at 1990 Walters Court.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:02 a.m. Wednesday.
The original vote was for approving permits for Responsible and Compliant Retail and JJVI, as well as Showcase, with a proposed site at 101 Grobric Court. It failed on a 3-3 vote.
The next vote was limited to Responsible and Compliant Retail and JJVI and passed 6-0.
“I’m happy that two of them got all of our votes, and I think they deserved them” Councilwoman Catherine Moy said about Responsible and Compliant Retail and JJVI.
Moy and other council members noted their local ties and long histories in Fairfield.
“As far as meeting the criteria we talked about, they definitely nailed that,” Vice Mayor Rick Vaccaro said.
But Moy had serious concerns about Showcase based on issues that she said arose three years ago in San Francisco. Councilwoman Pam Bertani also was concerned about Showcase’s history, and Councilwoman Doriss Panduro wanted time to look into those matters as well.
Vaccaro and Councilmen Chuck Timm and Scott Tonnesen supported Showcase, and appeared to believe the concerns raised by Moy were in the rearview mirror for the group.
Timm then moved for later consideration of Showcase, Culture Cannabis Club (CCC) and Authentic Fairfield (Shryne). The 6-0 vote was not for permit approval at this time.
The city staff will next come up with conditions of approval, with a final decision by the council likely to be made in June. The council still has the option of adding up to two more permits.
Mayor Harry Price recused himself from the discussion and final consideration because he owns property next to one of the proposed retail outlet sites, though he did not specify which site.
The council originally hired a consultant to grade the applicants, which resulted in a pair of finalists. However, a problem with the consultant calculations resulted in a full restart of the review process.
The council opted not to use a formal ranking system, but among the standards the council considered were the applicants’ business plans, labor and enterprise plans, neighborhood capability, safety, security, location and community relations.
The consultant’s rankings played no role in the final decision.
The council also increased the number of permits to be approved from two to as many as four.
There were nearly 130 individuals who checked into the meeting, the vast majority to speak on the cannabis issue. Because of the interest, the time to speak was limited to 2 minutes.
The council also was scheduled to issue a preliminary permit for a cannabis manufacturing company, but that item was put off for a later date due to time concerns with the meeting Tuesday. The applicant is 3Bros Fairfield, which also applied for a retail permit.
Related
