Gardena planning commission backs zoning change to allow medical cannabis delivery services with 600-foot buffers

The Gardena Planning and Environmental Commission voted 3-1 on Aug. 20 to recommend that the City Council adopt Ordinance 18-75, which would amend the zoning code to allow non-storefront medical cannabis delivery businesses in the city’s industrial districts (M1 and M2) subject to local permitting and distance requirements.

Staff explained that Senate Bill 1186 requires local jurisdictions to allow retail sales of medical cannabis by delivery and that municipalities may adopt reasonable regulations on location, security, licensing and similar standards. As staff summarized during the presentation, "This bill ... prohibits cities from adopting or enforcing regulations on or after January first of 2024 that would directly or indirectly prohibit the retail sales of, by delivery of medical cannabis in the city," but it also allows cities to impose reasonable regulations on non-storefront retailers. Staff said the ordinance creates definitions (including "non-storefront retailer"), adds the permitted use in M1 and M2 zoning, and establishes a 600-foot distance requirement from listed sensitive receptors such as public and private schools, day-care centers, churches, public parks, libraries and youth centers.

Staff told the commission that the permitting and licensing program established under a separate chapter of the proposed ordinance (Title 5) would operate alongside state licensing and that the police department would have a role in local permitting. Staff also said the zoning amendment is intended to be consistent with the general plan’s industrial land use and would not be subject to CEQA if no significant environmental effects are anticipated.

Commissioners asked about advertising, how deliveries would be limited to medical patients and who enforces compliance. Staff responded that advertising is regulated by state rules, medical patients receive an identification card and licensed caregivers can receive deliveries, and local business permits plus state licensing provide a dual-layer oversight. The city’s retail/business-license process would handle any local tax collection related to such activity.

After discussion Unidentified Speaker 5 moved to adopt Resolution PC 16-24 recommending City Council adopt Ordinance 18-75; the motion passed on a 3-1 roll call with Commissioner Langley recorded as the lone no vote. The item will be forwarded to the City Council for consideration of the ordinance and related Title 5 licensing provisions.