Pubdate: Wed, 19 Jul 2017
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2017 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Craig Shultz

WANT A PERMIT TO GROW POT? FEE WILL BE $16,500 IN SAN JACINTO

San Jacinto has set permit fees for those who wish to operate commercial 
marijuana businesses in the city.

Anyone wanting a permit to operate a commercial marijuana cultivation
business in San Jacinto better have some cash.

The City Council set the permit fee at $16,500 during its meeting
Tuesday, July 18. Annual permit renewals will cost $6,000 and there
also will be a $10,000 fee to transfer a permit.

The money covers the cost of staff time required to review and process
the applications, according to the city.

San Jacinto has been laying the groundwork for cannabis businesses
since before state voters approved the recreational use in November.
Ordinances have been passed regarding how many cultivation businesses
will be allowed and where they will be located. Taxing mechanisms also
are in place.

The city is one of few in the region to have laws ready to
go.

"Surrounding cities are all looking at us for the model," Mayor Scott
Miller said Tuesday as part of a discussion on setting up a Cannabis
Oversight Committee.

City Manager Rob Johnson researched other cities to see how they have
set up similar committees.

"There are all kinds of different ways you can go," Johnson said. "I
hope this is a conversation starter for you."

The idea is to bring together members from diverse areas in the city
to discuss the effects of legal marijuana businesses and how the city
should react. Among those suggested to be on the panel are council
members, cultivators, business owners, educators and medical
professionals.

"The whole idea is to have representatives from this (council) sitting
down with our legal business owners to talk about things we haven't
thought of," Miller said.

Councilwoman Crystal Ruiz said it should be left up to the committee
to decide its focus and Miller expects the panel to evolve.

"A lot of things will change as we see the behavior and the climate
created by the cannabis industry," he said.

After council members gave their thoughts about how the committee
should be set up -- and most volunteered to serve on it -- it was
decided to do more research and bring the item back next month.

The city also authorized spending some of the expected money raised
through cannabis taxes, hiring three additional deputies through its
contract with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

One traffic officer and two Problem Oriented Policing officers will
cost just under $1 million.
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MAP posted-by: Matt