Santee will use a “merit system” to approve its first cannabis shops, forgoing a lottery or a first-come-first-serve approach.
The process gives local officials more control over who opens up in a city long resistant to legalization, but it does risk the ire of rejected applicants.
Santee is using a consultant that worked in Chula Vista, which has faced multiple lawsuits from people alleging they were unfairly passed over.
While no formal vote was taken at a Nov. 9 meeting, the four council members present appeared to unanimously agree.
Giving permits to the best business plans “does make the most sense,” said Councilmember Dustin Trotter.
The council narrowly voted earlier this year to allow up to four shops. Creating an application will take another two to three months, according to City Manager Marlene Best.
Council members will have to approve that document and the process for ranking applicants, as well as any permits.
Santee officials alluded to litigation elsewhere when they said they were carefully establishing a process to check everything from a potential owner’s criminal history to their parking plan.
“We want to take the time to get it right,” City Attorney Shawn Hagerty told the council.
Assisting that process is the Brea-based consultant HdL Companies, which has been the subject of critical stories from multiple news outlets.
Santee’s contract limits HdL to helping create the application and studying potential fees applicants might pay, according to Kathy Valverde, Assistant to the City Manager.
We “are aware of the challenges and evaluated their overall experience in this space,” Councilmember Laura Koval wrote in an email about HdL. “It’s an evolving area of regulation and our goal is to understand the lessons learned from other cities.”
A representative for HdL did not identify themselves when responding to a request for comment, and The San Diego Union-Tribune rarely allows the use of anonymous sources.
Santee also launched an interactive map to show where businesses would be allowed, since the city’s ordinance keeps shops at least 900 feet from schools, parks, churches or other “sensitive” locations.
Many potential sites are clustered along Prospect Avenue between Willow Terrace to the West and State Route 67 to the East. Officials stressed that the map only shows where shops could legally open, it doesn’t guarantee businesses at any location.
Vice Mayor Ronn Hall, who opposed legalization, suggested issuing only one permit a year.
“We don’t want to be La Mesa,” he said, referencing a neighboring city with around a dozen shops.
Mayor John Minto warned applicants against donating to council members to gain favor.
Officials are fielding questions about the process at the email CannabisInfo@cityofsanteeca.gov. The city manager said they’d received 40 emails so far and more than 90 people had signed up for a newsletter.
The map and other cannabis information can be viewed at www.cityofsanteeca.gov/business/cannabis-business.
Staff writer Tammy Murga contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.
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