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Council adopts commercial cannabis operational fees but fails to approve testing-lab permit guidelines
Summary
Council adopted seven commercial cannabis operational fees to cover city costs for renewals, transfers, site modifications and other permit actions, but a separate motion to adopt testing-laboratory permit guidelines and the proposed $7,511 application fee failed for lack of four affirmative votes.
On Aug. 19 the council approved a package of seven commercial cannabis operational fees intended to recover city costs related to retail storefront permitting and ongoing regulation. Kyle Wierczynski, senior project manager in Economic Development, presented a user-fee study proposing flat fees to recover staff time and overhead for annual renewals, changes in location, transfers, site or building modifications, changes in less-than-majority ownership, employee background checks, and out-of-town delivery operations.
Council adopted the fee schedule after staff explained the methodology used by consultant MGT and the city's desire to set fees at 100% cost recovery. The council vote carried with four affirmative votes and one dissent noted in the record.
Separately, staff proposed a streamlined permitting process and a $7,511 flat application fee for commercial cannabis testing laboratories, based on comparable jurisdictions and a time-and-materials review of staff tasks. Supporters representing a proposed local lab said timely local authorization and CEQA/operational clarity are needed for state licensing validation. Opponents raised concerns about the potential scale and local impacts of cannabis-related businesses generally.
When council considered the testing-lab guidelines and fee, the motion failed to reach the four-affirmative-vote threshold required under council rules (the vote was 3–2). Staff said they will revise the guidelines and continue outreach with applicants and stakeholders before bringing the item back to council for a public hearing.
What this means: Retail cannabis operators should expect new operational permit fees; testing laboratories will need to await further council action for a local permit procedure and fee schedule before applying for city authorization and seeking state approval.
