Chico enters final phase of commercial storefront cannabis application process

CHICO, Calif. — Cannabis in Chico: it's been inching its way there over the past two years. Wednesday night, the final three in the race for the city’s first-ever storefront dispensary permits went up against the city manager and the public.

The three businesses—Cloud Chaser, Embarc and Sweet Flower Chico—partook in a public hearing with the city manager last night. Any concerns about each proposed location, benefits to the community and more were answered by the businesses.

It's the fourth and final phase of the application process that began back in 2020. City Manager Mark Sorensen, however, says no action was taken following the hearing. In a statement, he tells KRCR:

Other than the applicants and their personnel, there may have been two members of the public. Only the applicants and their personnel and supporters provided comments. Thus, no new information arose in the hearing.

Cannabis business permits were already awarded for manufacturing and distribution operations back in March. These businesses, along with the eventual storefronts, will be subject to a five percent community benefit taxthat will go back to the city to spend at the city council's discretion.

David Peterson, who owns a dispensary in Lassen County and received permits for both operations in Chico, and other permit-holders envision a big boom in businesses to this lackluster cannabis market.

"All these individuals are buying their cannabis currently- they're either traveling to those areas (where it is legal) or, you know, worst case scenario, still buying it on the black market,” says Peterson ahead of the hearing Wednesday evening. "Five percent of gross receipts on three retailers and the other businesses to include my two, it will amount to quite a bit of money."

His estimate: somewhere between three and four million dollars annually. Though the last step in the application process, the city manager says it’s not the end of the line.

We are working on final details in each of the conditions of approval to accompany the Phase 4 determinations. Once approved by the City Attorney’s office, the final determinations will be provided to each of the applicants. We plan to provide those final determinations within a few days.

From there, he says the determinations will go to the planning commission for final approval of conditional use permits. Sorensen expects that process to last up to two months at the maximum.

So, if all goes to plan, it could be just months more before the city’s first-ever dispensaries open their door. But, if they’ll be open by the end of the year as originally planned remains unclear.

"The public is really anxious to get cannabis going in Chico," says Peterson. "It's just not a quick process. You want to make sure you have the right applicants, you want to make sure that the community is receiving the benefits, and the council, I got to give it to them. As conservative as they seem majority wise, and most likely their personal beliefs aren't in favor of cannabis, they're the ones getting this thing across the finish line."

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