The San Luis Obispo county board of supervisors discussed on Tuesday potential amendments and edits to the cannabis ordinance for the county.
County staff reported that the cannabis tax, first passed in 2018, generated a little under six hundred thousand dollars, while the county’s total cost of service for regulating legal and illegal cannabis operations was reported to be about 1.5 million dollars. The lower cannabis business tax passed by the board in june earlier this year is expected to generate around 387 thousand dollars for fiscal year 2023-24. Following public comments and discussion, the board voted on three separate motions made by supervisor Bruce Gibson.
Part of the first motion was to direct staff to draft an ordinance that would allow cannabis delivery businesses to operate until 10 pm, the same as neighboring counties. The board voted 4 to 1 with supervisor Debbie Arnold dissenting.
The second motion was to direct staff to bring back “land use regulations necessary to permit retail storefront dispensaries based on city models and experience” for discussion. The board voted 3 – 2 on this motion with supervisors Debbie Arnold and John Peschong dissenting.
The final motion was to direct staff to draft a report on using Lean Six Sigma, a program adopted by the county to streamline its processes, in order to streamline cannabis regulations. Supervisors Debbie Arnold and John Peschong dissented in the 3 – 2 vote.
