The future of legal cannabis dispensaries in Chula Vista took a step forward on June 10 with the city announcing it has narrowed a list of 124 potential retail applications to 36.
The applicants of 31 storefront and five non-storefront applications, along with five applications for cultivation licenses, will now face further evaluation, including an interview at City Hall in mid-July.
Chula Vista’s 43-page Commercial Cannabis Ordinance, which was adopted in November 2018 following the voter-approved passage of Measure Q, allows for each of the city’s four districts to have three retail licenses and up to 10 cultivator licenses.
The city can also issue an unlimited number of licenses for manufacturing, distributing and laboratory testing.
All five non-storefront retailer finalists are for medical purposes, compared to only nine of the 31 storefront retailers. Non-storefront retailers are businesses that exclusively offer delivery services, whereas storefront retailers operate in a walk-in capacity only.
Despite the shortened list, none of the original applicants have been officially eliminated, according to Chula Vista Marketing and Communications Manager Anne Steinberger, who said a variety of factors, including additional background checks, could still undo a current finalist.
“It’s not that 36 have been selected and the others nothing could happen,” Steinberger said.
Of the retail finalists, 14 are proposing to set up shop in District 2, 11 in District 4, six in District 3 and five in District 1.
Four of the five cultivator license finalists are looking to settle in District 4, with the other – Golden State Greens – hoping to secure a location in District 3 at 821 Main Street.
Six retail businesses total wanted a spot along Main Street, making it the second most popular location destination among the 36 finalists, behind only Broadway (eight locations across District 2).
Three of the five applicant finalists for the cultivator license are also finalists for a retail licenses, while only 18 of the 36 retail applications are under unique persons.
Four retail finalists applied for two locations, while two applicants sought for three different locations around the city.
All applicants had to, among other things, show minimum experience managing a legal cannabis business, have a minimum of $250,000 in liquid assets, have a well-defined business and operating plan, provide fingerprints for background checks and show if anyone associated with the business had been denied authorization to conduct commercial cannabis activity before.
Additionally, the city’s finance director could reject the application if, among other things, it failed to demonstrate financial capacity, made false statements, is incorporated outside of the United States or was submitted by someone under the age of 21.
Chula Vista Deputy City Manager Kelley Bacon oversaw the development of the cannabis ordinance, and said in February that the first legal dispensaries could be up and running by the end of 2019, but stressed that it can be a lengthy operation.
“There’s a lot of requirements that they have to pass in as far as water and air and odor and they’ve got security plans and a whole lot of stuff that they have to put in place, and B, it’s not an easy process,” Bacon said at the time.
In January, the City Council set a tax rate of $15 per square foot of cultivation space and a 7 percent tax on gross receipts for all other businesses.
