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<br /> <br /> Resolution No. 2022-XXX <br />Page 2 of 5 <br /> <br />E. Since its inception, Chapter 40 has required all commercial cannabis <br />business operators to engage in providing community benefits and sustainable business <br />practices through execution of an operating agreement and accompanying Community <br />Benefit and Sustainable Business Practices plan, with the intent of ensuring commercial <br />cannabis businesses remain engaged in providing direct benefits to the Santa Ana <br />community. <br /> <br />F. In 2018, the City Council adopted Ordinance Nos. NS-2941 and NS-2942, <br />allowing and regulating commercial cannabis testing laboratories, and Ordinance No. NS- <br />2944, allowing commercial cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, and distribution activities. <br /> <br />G. The City of Santa Ana desires to remain at the forefront of commercial <br />cannabis by allowing and regulating commercial cannabis business activities, routinely <br />updating and amending its ordinances, and establishing commercial cannabis gross <br />receipts tax rates that are competitive and provide for the needs of the Santa Ana <br />community. <br /> <br />H. Measure BB and subsequent ordinances specified that commercial <br />cannabis business activity is permitted in the City’s light and heavy industrial zoning <br />districts (M1 and M2) and must be located 1,000 feet from schools, parks, and properties <br />zoned for residential uses. Proposition 64 subsequently set a minimum separation of 600 <br />feet but allowed local jurisdictions to adopt lower or higher separation requirements. <br /> <br />I. The City Council recognizes those entities that have remained on the <br />Medicinal Cannabis Waitlist pursuant to Santa Ana Municipal Code Section 40-104, and <br />those entities that were scored as part of the merit-based selection process in Section 40- <br />9. <br />J. Following redevelopment of industrial properties east of the Costa Mesa <br />(SR-55) Freeway, the City Council adopted a map of commercial cannabis eligible areas <br />on March 20, 2018 in which commercial cannabis business activities could locate subject <br />to full compliance with applicable local, County, and State regulations. <br /> <br />K. Since the last adoption of the map, the increasing demand for industrial <br />properties in Santa Ana following the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the availability of <br />commercial cannabis eligible properties in the industrial zoning districts, creating strain <br />on cannabis business applicants, other business types, tenants, and property owners. In <br />order to offer clarity and expansion opportunities to commercial cannabis business <br />owners, the City desires to update the map to specify the exact parcels on which <br />commercial cannabis business activities are permitted. The map is based on the original <br />1,000-foot buffer from sensitive land uses, including schools, parks, and residential <br />zoning districts. <br /> <br />L. The City of Santa Ana desires to maintain commercial cannabis businesses <br />in locations adequately buffered from sensitive land uses such as schools, parks, and