The Atascadero city council’s next meeting will be tonight, with open session starting at 6.
As part of tonight’s agenda is a comprehensive update for cannabis in the city of Atascadero. The agenda says council asked for a potential discussion regarding retail cannabis sales within the city on February 22nd, previously completing a second round of zoning in May of 2021 to allow commercial cannabis land uses. However, storefront retail sales were not adopted at this time.
The staff report for this agenda item notes that cannabis retail sales appear to be waning, noting that the first quarter of California saw the lowest sales of legal cannabis in five years. The agenda says that there was an increase in the number of units sold, but revenue decreased, indicating consumers are buying cheaper products. Staff also notes that there has not been a significant amount of crime reported from police departments in cities where retail storefronts are legal.
They will also discuss staffing impacts, location, advertising, and sales tax revenue relative to potentially allowing retail storefronts in the city. This is only a discussion item, and council will not make any decisions on changing the cannabis code. Staff recommends that if they were to update the code, they should conduct additional public outreach similar to what was done in 2021.
You can attend tonight’s meeting in person, or listen right here on KPRL.
