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Urgency Cannabis Testing Laboratories Ordinance and Ordinance Amendment No. 2018-01 — <br />Allow Commercial Cannabis Testing Laboratories and Resolution to Modify Commercial <br />Cannabis Application Fees <br />March 20, 2018 <br />Page 3 <br />City Council Direction <br />On February 20, 2018, staff presented the proposed ordinance amendments and fee resolution to <br />the City Council. The City Council provided direction on the several items. These items have been <br />addressed in the draft ordinance and/or this Request for Council Action (RFCA), with descriptions <br />and addition information included below. <br />1. Areas allowed and sensitive land use buffers— Maintain 1,000 -foot buffers from residential <br />land uses/zones in place on November 4, 2014 when Measure BB was adopted. <br />The draft ordinance has been revised to reference residential land uses in place on <br />November 4, 2014 when Measure BB was approved by Santa Ana voters (Exhibit 1). <br />2. Fee rate and consistency with neighboring jurisdictions — Ensure that the proposed gross <br />receipts fees are fair and consistent with those of surrounding jurisdictions. <br />The proposed gross receipts fee has been reduced from eight (8) to six (6) percent, making <br />Santa Ana equal to or more competitive than other large jurisdictions in California, including <br />Bellflower, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Oakland (Exhibit 2). <br />3. Application process and consistency with neighboring jurisdictions — Revise application <br />process to be efficient and not onerous for applicants; ensure process and application fees <br />are consistent with those of surrounding jurisdictions. <br />While legal statewide, cannabis is classified as a controlled substance at the federal level. <br />The City's RSP process ensures the safe handling and operations of cannabis by those <br />owning or operating commercial cannabis businesses in Santa Ana. Moreover, the City's <br />commercial cannabis ordinance requires community involvement, community benefits, and <br />sustainable business practices; the RSP process requires that operators and owners have <br />clean records as a condition of operating a commercial cannabis business and engaging in <br />the Santa Ana community. <br />In addition, the draft ordinance has been revised to allow Phase 1 and Phase 2 applications <br />to be submitted concurrently, saving approximately 60 days of processing time while still <br />recuperating implementation and administration costs. A review of application fees found <br />that Santa Ana's application processing fees are consistent with or below other Southern <br />California jurisdictions that permit commercial cannabis activities. <br />4. Revenue allocations — Incorporate language in the RFCA to recommend that application <br />and fee revenues be dedicated to administration (one-third), enforcement (one-third), and <br />community services (one-third). <br />75B-3 <br />