5.61.090 - Application review, scoring and selection process.

(a)

The city's review, scoring and selection of timely and complete submitted applications is anticipated to comprise of three phases.

(b)

A review committee processing applications to ensure compliance with any or all of the three phases of the application review, scoring and selection process shall be set forth herein. A review committee means a group member, as designated and assigned by the city administrator, or his or her designee, which may include city employees, agents, and/or representatives, to undertake the task(s) of reviewing and processing applications, as this may further relate to the application review, scoring, and/or selection process as set forth in this chapter.

(c)

Notwithstanding anything in this chapter to the contrary, the city reserves the right to reject any or all applications, at any time within, or in between, the three phases, if it determines it would be in the best interest of the city, taking into account the health, safety and welfare of the community. Furthermore, applications may also be rejected at any time for the following inclusive, but not limited, reasons:

(1)

The application is received after the designated submittal deadline.

(2)

The applicant has failed to submit a complete application, or the application is not organized in the required format.

(3)

The applicant has failed to pay the application fee as required by this chapter and by city council resolution, and any other related or applicable fees due before, up to, and/or through, the three phase application process.

(4)

The applicant has made a false, misleading or fraudulent statement or omission of fact in the application or in the application process, including, but not limited to, during any interviews, during meetings held to negotiate any terms of a development agreement, during any presentation(s) made to city council, if applicable, or by submitting any documentation or supplemental information as part of the application process, that is false, misleading or fraudulent, or that is incomplete so as to omit pertinent information called for by the application process.

(5)

Application contains excess or extraneous material not relevant, responsive, or called for in the application package.

(6)

The applicant, its owner(s), manager(s) or a responsible person has, within the past three years immediately preceding the date of the application, been sentenced or had a judgment issued in a criminal or civil court proceeding, and/or has been sanctioned or fined for, enjoined from, or found guilty of or plead guilty or no contest to a charge for engaging in a commercial cannabis activity in the state without the necessary permits and approvals from the applicable state and/or local jurisdiction(s); or has had a commercial cannabis license revoked or suspended by the applicable state and/or local jurisdiction(s).

(7)

The applicant, its owner(s), manager(s) or a responsible person, within the past three years immediately preceding the date of the application, has been issued a notice or citation by the city for unlicensed commercial cannabis activity, or if the applicant, its owner(s), manager(s) or a responsible person, was a defendant in a civil or criminal proceeding filed by the city or the people of the State of California, for allowing, causing, or permitting unlicensed commercial cannabis activities within the city's jurisdiction.

(8)

The applicant, an owner, manager or a responsible person has been convicted within the past ten years of any of the offenses listed in Section 5.61.110(5) of this chapter.

(9)

The applicant, an owner, manager or a responsible person is under twenty-one years of age.

(10)

The proposed location of the commercial cannabis business is not located outside a six hundred-foot radius from a school providing instruction in kindergarten or any grades 1 through 12, day care center, or youth center that are in lawful and/or city-approved existence at the time an application is submitted to the city.

(d)

The three phases of the application review, scoring and selection process may comprise of the following:

(1)

Phase I: Initial application screening and preliminary determination of eligibility.

(A)

During Phase I, applications shall be complete to be considered, and applications will only be complete if they include all information required by this application, and are presented in the requisite form, and submitted by or before the deadline, and with the accompanying applicable application fee(s).

(B)

Each owner will undergo a criminal history check, as determined by the city administrator, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, or the city's law enforcement agency, demonstrating compliance with the eligibility requirements, the AUMA, the MAUCRSA, the regulations, and as required herein in this chapter. The background check may include a live scan review for both the state and federal clearance. In the event of delays, which may occur in processing the live scan, each owner may be subject to a provisional background check at which time they will be required to sign a background authorization allowing the city to conduct a third-party authorization allowing the city to conduct a third-party criminal investigation check.

(C)

During Phase I, city staff, and/or city agents or representatives, or the review committee, will review applications to determine compliance with the minimum application submittal requirements, and to determine whether any application should be denied based on matters appearing on the face of the application. In addition to those grounds for denial as enumerated herein in this chapter, failure to be responsive and/or provide substantive responses, or provide applicable supporting documentation as required by the application, is grounds for denial. Successful applicants will be forwarded to Phase II. Notice of the results of Phase I will be provided in writing to each applicant.

(D)

The city administrator, or his or her designee, may establish scoring criteria for Phase I.

(2)

Phase II: Investigation, Scoring, and Ranking.

(A)

During Phase II, the review committee will review the applications and evaluate and score them, using the following general review criteria:

No. Criteria Weight

1 Compliance with application submittal requirements and presentation 10%

2 Premises diagram/site plan or proposed premises diagram site plan, with premises on map showing its location is a minimum 600 feet from sensitive sites 10%

3 Operating procedures 10%

4 Business and financial plan 20%

5 Community benefits program 20%

6 Applicant's and owner(s) qualifications and experience 10%

7 Development agreement proposal 20%

(B)

The city administrator, or his or her designee, may promulgate additional rules or policies to establish supplemental or more detailed scoring categories, with respective scoring points, under any one or all of the criteria listed hereinabove, prior to the commencement of the city accepting any applications.

(C)

To the extent background checks were not complete during Phase I, they will be completed during Phase II.

(D)

The review committee will review and score qualifying applications based on the above criteria, and at the discretion of the review committee, applicants may be required to provide presentations and/or participate in interviews before the committee. If a premise is identified in the application, the review committee may direct an inspection thereof by qualified city personnel to ascertain current conditions of the premises.

(E)

During Phase II, the review committee shall have the authority to ask questions of any applicant, including requests for applicants to provide information and documentation not included in the original application, to review and discuss terms proposed in a development agreement, and any such pertinent or relevant information or materials as may be considered relevant by the review committee.

(F)

After applications have been reviewed and scored, the review committee will tabulate its final scores and rank the top scoring applications, as judged by the review committee.

(G)

The qualified applicants who are qualified to operate a commercial cannabis business in the city during this Phase II will be presented to the city council for a final determination at a public city council meeting, and at a date and time set by the city administrator, or his or her designee.

(H)

An applicant who is deemed qualified during this Phase II is not guaranteed any particular result in the application process.

(I)

Notice of the results of Phase II will be provided in writing to each applicant.

(3)

Phase III: Final Ranking and City Council Consideration.

(A)

Phase III will consist of the city council's consideration of the review committee's recommendations. Applicants progressing to Phase III may be invited to attend a city council meeting to make a public presentation introducing their team and providing an overview of their proposal, or to answer questions from city council or staff, and therefore should be prepared to attend a public meeting of the city council for said purpose. In order to provide adequate time for all applicants, presentations may be divided over more than one meeting over multiple days, as determined to be necessary.

(B)

At least ten calendar days prior to the public meeting when city council will consider the review committee's recommendations, irrespective of whether those qualified applicants to be considered by the city council will be invited to make a presentation or not at said meeting, each qualified applicant shall provide notice of the public meeting by sending written notice to all property owners and occupants located within five hundred feet of the proposed business location(s). Said applicant shall provide proof of mailing to the review committee as a pre-condition to be considered at said meeting. Applicants will work cooperatively with city staff to prepare agenda materials in advance of the city council meeting, and to answer any questions posed by staff or the city council, but applicants shall meet all legally imposed deadlines prior to the public meeting for agenda materials to be considered by city council.

(C)

The city council reserves the right to amend, revise, and/or reject the review committee's scoring, ranking, or recommendations of the applications, and may take such action on any application which the city council finds will further the best interests of the city.

(D)

At the conclusion of the public meeting, the city council may select the highest qualified applicants to negotiate final development agreement terms and conditions with the city. The city council's selection will be memorialized in a written "Notice of Selection," and shall specify a reasonable period of time in which the parties will negotiate and finalize site of operations, if necessary, as well as operating and development terms and conditions to be memorialized in a development agreement, to be subsequently considered by the planning commission and city council, as applicable. Compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act will also be required. Notice of the results of Phase III will be provided in writing to each applicant.

(E)

The city council's decision as to the selection of the prevailing candidates shall be final.

(F)

Selected applicants will be required to cover the city's cost of preparing the development agreement, and to pay all other applicable fees associated with the process not covered in the application review, scoring and selection process pursuant to fees established by resolution, as authorized by this chapter.

(e)

If, during the time period specified, the selected applicants and city are unable to finalize the matters described herein, or if the planning commission and city council ultimately deny a development agreement for the applicant, the city council, in its discretion, may terminate the negotiating period with the applicant and open negotiations with the applicant or applicants that submitted the next highest-scoring application.

(f)

Issuance of a commercial cannabis permit does not create a land use approval. Furthermore, no permit will be officially issued and no applicant awarded a permit may begin operations, unless all of the state and local laws and regulations, including but not limited to the requirements of this code and of the permit, have been complied with. Until a state license is available and obtained by the permittee, all permittees must comply with all provisions of the state laws as they relate to commercial cannabis activity.

(g)

Being issued a notice of selection does not constitute a land use entitlement and does not waive or remove the requirements of entering into a development agreement, and submitting all requisites thereof, submitting plans, making any required plan corrections, and obtaining city-approved plans, applying for and receiving technical permits for all construction and/or structural alterations, including building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits, undergoing and passing all building and fire intermittent and final inspections, and securing any other required permits, licenses, or reviews as may be necessary by the relevant departments or government agencies in charge of said permits. Nor does it guarantee that the plans submitted via the application process meet the standards or requirements in this chapter or Title 19 of this code, or any building or fire codes, laws, rules or regulations, or any other permit requirement from other local or state departments or agencies.

(h)

Applicants shall have no right to a commercial cannabis permit until a permit is actually issued, and then only for the duration of the permit's term. Each applicant assumes the risk that, at any time prior to the issuance of a permit, the city council may terminate or delay the program created under this chapter.

(i)

If an application is denied at any phase, in the event that the city is receiving new applications, a new application may not be filed for one year from the date of the denial.

(j)

Prior to operating a commercial cannabis business, each person awarded a commercial cannabis permit shall be required to pay a permit fee established by resolution of the city council, to cover the costs of administering the commercial cannabis permit program created in this chapter.

(Ord. No. 700, § 2, 9-4-2018)