Auburn staff present options for retail cannabis, buffer rules and potential tax grants

A staff member leading a City of Auburn workshop on Sept. 24 told participants the council had directed staff to solicit public input on retail cannabis after earlier instructions in January and again in August, and that staff would present findings to the city council at its first October meeting.

The workshop focused on three council questions: how many retail cannabis licenses the city should allow, where dispensaries or delivery should be located and whether the city should permit retail cannabis at all. The session included a live survey, map-based location discussion and examples of how nearby cities have regulated and budgeted for cannabis-related revenues and grants.

Staff framed the discussion by defining Auburn’s municipal boundary (about seven square miles) and by noting many online delivery services based in Sacramento are advertising delivery into Auburn. “This has been a long time coming,” the staff member said, noting the outreach work has taken nearly two years and that the survey would remain live until 5 p.m. next Wednesday before results are tabulated.

Why it matters: council members asked for a public process to gauge neighborhood preferences, potential tax revenue and the local regulatory approach. Staff emphasized that retail dispensaries could bring excise tax revenue and make municipalities eligible for state “cohort” grants used elsewhere for community projects and mitigation measures.

Key details from the workshop

- Regulatory context: Staff reviewed state milestones cited in the presentation: the Compassionate Use Act (1996), a 2015 legislative overhaul of…