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September 19, 2022 Agenda Item #25 Jonathan Garcia URVA LLC 820 N. Olive St. Santa Ana, CA 92703 D2n? D�(i-J:IRVA.i::.Jfe Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, Thank you for allowing us to provide our input on this exciting and innovative topic. My name is Jonathan Garcia, Chief Executive Officer of URVA LLC. My brother, Israel Isaac Garcia, and I are co-founders of URVA LLC, a cannabis lifestyle brand. We were both born and raised in Ward 5 and still reside in Ward 5. I am a veteran of the U.S. Air Force where I obtained Top Secret SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) Clearance, have extremely broad experience working in the cannabis/tech industry with various ventures, and was once employed by the City of Santa Ana. Isaac is an attorney who graduated from U.C. Hastings College of the Law and obtained a mechanical engineering degree from U.C. Berkeley. Isaac has represented numerous multinational corporations, and enjoys researching cannabis law. URVA LLC is our new venture, and we are excited about creating this new business within our hometown. Our aims are to open a cannabis consumption lounge here in Santa Ana, as well as a vertically integrated cannabis production business and a supporting cannabis lifestyle apparel and accessories business. The mission of URVA LLC is to empower the world in embracing their own unique identity while unifying the word as one social body and living being. The vision ofour cannabis consumption lounge, more speci acally, is to provide a unique lounge that serves as a safe place for members to consume cannabis with other members and socialize amongst themselves, surrounded by local arts and entertainment while savoring the culinary arts, all whilst we give back to the local community. As can be seen in Image 41, we are not only a Santa Ana grassroots company but also aim to help the City promote social equity. We appreciate the City Council considering Ordinance Amendment No. 2022-01 (the "Cannabis Amendments" or "CANAM") to the Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC), thereby addressing the needs of the cannabis industry in Santa Ana. We especially commend you for your efforts surrounding cannabis consumption lounges, special events and festivals, social equity, retail licenses, commercial cannabis business zoning, and retail, consumption lounge and special event tax rates. While we commend you for your efforts and direction, we have a few ideas and input that we would like the City Council to consider in moving forward. 1. Allowing Lounges & Adding Retail Licenses Under CANAM section 6 (amending SAMC § 40-8(10)(b)), cannabis consumption lounges would be permitted "as an ancillary use to a commercial cannabis medicinal or adult - use retail business." (Emphasis added.) Under CANAM section 6 (amending SAMC § 40-8