Code Enforcement Supervisor Yessica Benitez provided an update on the active cannabis business establishments in West Hollywood at the Business License Commission’s Tuesday night meeting.
Since 2022, the city has seen an increase in cannabis storefronts, and as of the date of the report, there are 10 such businesses. The report spans from March 28, 2023, to September 25, 2023. Within this period, 16 complaints were lodged against six different cannabis operators. These complaints pertained to issues like signage, property maintenance, music, and outdoor speaker installations, but all have either been addressed or are in the process of being rectified. On the whole, the cannabis businesses have complied with the city’s ordinances, especially concerning odor control, age verification, security requirements and operating hours.
The Neighborhood and Business Safety Division will maintain its oversight, ensuring that these establishments follow the rules.
The commission inquired about changes in some businesses, such as La PCG renaming itself to 420 Market, and whether that constituted a change in ownership.
Benitez responded that they’re in talks with the applicant regarding this matter and would provide more information in the future.
Another business, High Times, reportedly entered into a partnership with Lucy Scientific on September 23rd, leading to questions about how this might impact the cafe and if it will be a topic of discussion later on. Benitez wasn’t aware of this development but noted that they could look into it.
Benitez also gave an update on the cannabis business license program in the city. The timeline of the cannabis program started in November 2017 when City Council approved the cannabis ordinance, permitting five distinct categories within the cannabis business license.
These categories are: Adult Use Retail, Medical Dispensary, Cannabis Consumption for Edibles, Cannabis Consumption Area for smoking, vaping, and edibles, and Cannabis Delivery Service.
In May 2018, the city opened a 30-day window for screening applications, during which over 300 applications were received and reviewed. By February 7, 2019, the top-scoring applicants were announced, granting them permission to proceed with obtaining a business license approval.
On August 3, 2022, the City Council made amendments to the Cannabis Business License Ordinance due to a settlement agreement. The modifications included establishing a waitlist provision for top-scoring applicants from the 2018 screening process to apply for a license vacancy in their respective category. Other changes were permitting ownership transfer provisions (variance requests), setting a three-year operational deadline for businesses from the time of receiving approval from the Business License Commission, and sanctioning a smoking area in cannabis consumption lounges that are designated as edibles-only.
Applicants that scored highest and were announced in February 2019 had a deadline of February 7, 2022, to gain approval from the Business License Commission. Notably, one business, which held three licenses, forfeited their right to apply. This led to the licenses being offered to the next top-scoring candidates from 2018, but when these businesses failed to apply by the August 8, 2023 deadline, the licenses were then passed to the next highest-scoring applicants in their categories.
On June 6, 2022, the city granted a six-month extension twice to license holders who had received approval from the Business License Commission between 2019 and 2020. This was due to an agreement setting a deadline for businesses to become operational within three years. Thus, those approved in 2019 and 2020 received an extra year, provided they demonstrated significant progress towards becoming operational.
Benitez then presented a color-coded table reflecting the status of approved business licenses. Currently, the city has ten operational storefront businesses holding a total of 22 licenses. Twelve other businesses (holding 15 licenses) are working on finalizing their building permits, and three pending businesses have until August 2025 to get Business License Commission approval.
During the Q&A session, a question was raised about the terminology used for one of the license types, “edible”, despite changes in its classification. Benitez explained it was to track businesses that are “edibles-only” due to their restricted smoking areas. There were also discussions on a temporary cannabis event set for Halloween, the first of its kind. Although a business was already promoting the event, Benitez clarified that the application hadn’t been finalized.
So 420 Market on Santa Monica is clearly different owners than the Caregivers shop that used to occupy that location, so are they operating without a license? The Cannabis Cafe on La Brea has been operating private events, they are owned by High Times who was just purchased by a Canadian company, so are they still licensed? And the Emerald City Halloween Cannabis Event is selling VIP tickets for $185 each despite not actually being permitted? A first grade class could run this better than the morons making six figures.