Lake Elsinore City Council members voted 4-0 to approve an amendment to the development agreement for Blaze Utopia, a cannabis business located at 233 West Menthorne Street, removing the prior annual escalation and capping the retail community benefit fee at $25 per square foot.

The amendment, presented by Principal Planner Nancy Wynne, also reduces non-retail cannabis uses to $5 per square foot, eliminates the previous 4% annual increase, and gives businesses the option to pay monthly or as an annual lump sum. Wynne said the changes respond to concerns from local cannabis operators about operating successfully in Lake Elsinore.

Wynne told the council that the Planning Commission reviewed the request on Sept. 16 and recommended approval on a 5-0 vote, finding the proposal exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under existing-facility exemptions. At the council meeting, no members of the public spoke on the item and no council member asked questions before the public hearing was closed.

Councilmember Manos moved to find the project exempt from CEQA under the cited guideline and to introduce an ordinance approving the amended development agreement; Councilmember Sheridan seconded. The motion carried 4-0.

The development agreement amendment remains subject to the city’s ordinance adoption process after the introduction. The amendment paperwork presented to the council describes the original community benefit fee as starting at $18 per square foot with a 4% annual increase; the revised terms remove that escalation and set the new caps and payment options described above.

Planning staff recommended the CEQA exemption under the existing facility category and that council adopt a resolution approving the development agreement amendment. The Planning Commission’s 5-0 recommendation is recorded in the staff report. No CA public comments were received at the hearing.

A formal ordinance approving the amended development agreement will be placed on a future council agenda for final reading and adoption, per standard procedure.