The Santee City Council voted unanimously to select four applicants to move forward toward permitting for retail cannabis storefronts and named four additional alternates, the council announced after a multi-hour public hearing and closed deliberations.

The council adopted a staff-drafted resolution approving Buzz Cannabis; Doctor Green Thumbs; Flight; and Green Reserve as the four selected retail applicants. The resolution names Embark as the first alternate, with Culture Cannabis Club, Santee Holistics and Mission Greens designated as additional alternates. The motion passed on a unanimous vote of the council.

The choice concludes the multi-day process the city established to evaluate competing applications. Council members and staff told the meeting they based decisions on several factors laid out in the city’s commercial-cannabis ordinance and application scoring: demonstrated security and compliance measures, a plan to limit youth exposure, geographic distribution of retail locations across Santee and evidence of fiscal stability and local ties.

“The council has, you know, been talking about this a little bit,” the mayor said during deliberations, describing the work the panel had done to review applications and site visits. City staff reiterated that the selection reflected both ordinance goals and the applicants’ readiness to open. City planning staff told the council they would move into formal license negotiation steps and that successful applicants must complete required tenant-improvement and building-permit processes and finalize a direct-benefit fee agreement with the city within the timeframe established by the resolution.

Council members discussed location and circulation issues at several contender sites when deciding which applications to advance. Several council members said they prioritized operators who showed the ability to open relatively quickly in existing structures and those who demonstrated ongoing community engagement in East County.

The resolution directs staff to begin the standard post-selection processes for permitting, including the city’s standard background and compliance checks and preparation of licenses and agreements. Council members and staff also emphasized that alternates will be available to replace any selected applicant that chooses not to proceed or does not satisfy required conditions.

Opponents and advocates alike said they will monitor the implementation steps. During the hearing, public commenters urged caution on public-health grounds; others urged the council to pick operators with a strong track record of security, vendor payments and community benefits.

What happens next: staff will prepare the license agreements and work with each selected applicant on building and safety requirements and local conditions attached to Santee permits. The city also flagged that the state license process runs in parallel to city steps and that opening dates projected by applicants varied widely — applicants estimated build-out and licensing timelines between roughly 4 and 12 months depending on site-specific tenant improvements and state processing times.

The council’s vote completes the competitive local selection process; any final retail openings will still depend on the permits, building approvals, final license agreements and state licensing decisions.