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Council directs Planning Commission to review updated cannabis ordinances; first reading set for Feb. 11
Summary
After a year of refinements, council members voted 4-1 to send amended cannabis regulatory ordinances to the Planning Commission for a Feb. 3 review and to schedule a first reading of ordinance amendments at the Feb. 11 council meeting.
Redondo Beach City Council on Jan. 21 directed staff to send proposed amendments to the city’s cannabis regulatory ordinances to the Planning Commission for a Feb. 3 public hearing and to schedule first reading of the ordinances for Feb. 11. The motion passed 4-1.
The ordinance updates are technical and substantive edits to the commercial cannabis framework the council adopted in 2022 and to measures voters approved in 2023. City staff and the city attorney said the revisions resolve wording discrepancies, embed the scoring matrix in municipal code (no longer an attachment) and align zoning, operating standards and application procedures with council direction.
Council members and staff said the changes do not create new categories of cannabis activities; they refine and streamline the permitting and review process after four years of work that began with a steering committee in 2018. Community Development Director Elizabeth House reviewed the changes in the draft, told the council staff will present only updated sections to the Planning Commission on Feb. 3, and said the Planning Commission hearing will focus on zoning and buffer maps.
Members of the public raised questions about application scoring and documentation requirements during public comment: whether “record of compliance” should be defined in application instructions; what counts as evidence of regulatory compliance; and whether CPA-verified financial statements requested in the draft mean three years of historical financials or pro forma projections for a new Redondo Beach operation. Director House said staff will clarify Section 3.1 (financial documentation) and provide instructions in the application packet so all applicants understand what to submit.
The council’s direction: Planning Commission review at a Feb. 3 special meeting, with staff to bring the ordinances back to council for first reading Feb. 11. Staff said the city attorney will finalize recital language after the Planning Commission hearing and then prepare the documents for first reading.
Why it matters: The city has allowed the framework for commercial cannabis since 2022 but identified ambiguities and inconsistencies in December 2023. The updates are intended to make the application, scoring and zoning rules clearer and more enforceable before Redondo begins licensing businesses.
What’s next: The Planning Commission will hold a publicly noticed Feb. 3 hearing focused on zoning sections and buffer distances. After that hearing the ordinances will be revised as needed and scheduled for first reading Feb. 11.
