Pacific Grove, CA becomes a cannabis battleground

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A debate is brewing over how many licenses should be awarded and who should get them

The recently elected officials in Pacific Grove, CA were counting on a triumph after giving the green light to the first retail cannabis store to operate in the area. However, a notice of referendum is taking that decision back to the voters. The coastal community recently approved a city ordinance on September 16 to allow one cannabis license to be issued; it was approved by 15,000 people. Later, on September 22, the city filed an application for a single license. Now, in what seems to be a fight to get that single license, a referendum is aiming to reverse the council decision.

The main difference between these two motions is that an initiative creates legislation by the people, but a referendum allows the people to veto legislation that is passed by any legislative body. The summary of the referendum was submitted on September 21 by Debby Beck from Debby Beck Real Estate Group in Pacific Grove, and it is now in the hands of City Attorney David Laredo. He can take no more than ten days to review and revise the summary, so it needs to be completed before October 2. According to Laredo, his office would be looking for accuracy and the only expected revision is the request of attaching the ordinance to the referendum so voters know what they are voting on.

According to Pacific Grove City Manager Ben Harvey, they will continue to move forward with the announcement of the city accepting applications for the retail cannabis license, which needs to follow specific requirements like being away from schools, among other things. “We will be continuing with the process,” he said. “It would be premature not to.”