Within a year’s time, cannabis dispensaries will be operating inside Chico city limits. Applicants, however, want to do more than just sell.
To this day, cannabis users living in Butte County have outsourced their needs from cannabis retail storefronts, better known as dispensaries, and delivery services located outside county lines. The city began the process to meet those needs here at home by approving a commercial cannabis business ordinance in August 2020, followed by opening an application window nearly a year later.
As only three permits are intended to be awarded, Cannabis professionals from across the state have since worked to become one of the final three operating Chico’s first-ever marijuana dispensaries. Each will pay roughly 5% in benefit fees to the city that will go towards future city projects and supporting city departments.
Nearly 30 applied, and now it’s down to 24 applicants, City Manager Mark Orme tells KRCR. Some were denied due to their proposed shop locations being too close to where young children frequent, such as schools, youth dance studios and daycares.
“The idea is that you don’t want to locate a dispensary next to a sensitive use, a place that attracts youth,” Chico City Attorney Vincent Ewing said during the council’s November 2 meeting.
It’s now on to the next phase in this process to narrow down the remaining applicants even further. Before doing so, the topic is back in front of city council members Tuesday night where the seven members will discuss exactly what they’ll allow within the city in regards to cannabis operations. This was at the request of Mayor Andrew Coolidge who tells KRCR that Chico’s job base could see benefits if more than just strictly selling and delivering is allowed.
“We’ve had some businesses inquire that they want to do manufacturing,” says Coolidge during a phone interview Tuesday. “I think we can make some headway on legitimate cannabis-related testing facilities and maybe a host of those, but I think it has to be done in a way that makes sense for the City of Chico.”
For those in Butte County waiting for the first dispensary doors to open, the process is far from over. The city does not anticipate the first shops opening until close to 2023.
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