The Culver City Council voted unanimously to adopt the “Commercial Cannabis Activities” and “Cannabis Facilities” chapters of the Los Angeles County Code, saving hours in manpower essentially rewriting the same thing.
The city expects to begin issuing permits for retail cannabis locations later this year, and staff from both the county and Culver City expect there to be a 20-day approval process.
Council Member Meghan Sahli-Wells had some questions about how waste will be hauled away safely and hygienically, and staff had no answer for that yet. She also asked about odor control, which will be controlled by the county, with citations issued as necessary.
Sahli-Wells, as well as Mayor Jeffrey Cooper, has long been a supporter of the legalization of cannabis though, and it’s been a long road to get to this point.
Back in December, Council Member Jim Clarke had attempted to leverage the retail cannabis vote with a last-minute item.
Clarke requested that items be placed on the agenda for discussion in 2018, including restricting cannabis outlets to locations that have their own parking such as a strip mall, ensuring that outlets are in the middle of blocks rather than on street corners, and ensuring that two outlets won’t be immediately next to each other, on the same block.
While Vice Mayor Thomas Small and Council Member Meghan Sahli-Wells said they were open to the discussion (though they felt uncomfortable with the way, in Sahli-Wells’ words, “the vote was being held hostage”), Mayor Jeffrey Cooper was less amiable, stating that what Clarke was suggesting would stigmatize what is now a legal business in the state of California.
Still, Clarke asked for three nodding heads before proceeding with his “yay” vote, and he got them from Small, Sahli-Wells, and himself.
Now, finally, it looks like legitimate businesses will be able function legally in Culver City.