Soon, customers at cannabis dispensaries might be able to purchase flower, walk over a few feet to an on-site lounge and spark up.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday told cannabis division staff to draw up an ordinance allowing these kinds of on-site lounges. The supervisors are expected to take their first vote on the new rules on Dec. 10. If passed, a second vote would likely come sometime in January, with the lounges becoming legal 30 days later.
Among the many requirements that could come with this shift, dispensaries that want to offer the lounge experience will need to install specific heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in order to qualify for a permit. Sam LoForti, the county’s cannabis division manager, said the HVAC systems create an environment “with almost no perceptible smoke. As soon as it comes out of you, the smoke comes out of the air.”
The new law comes almost a year after Supervisors Manu Koenig and Felipe Hernandez proposed a number of changes to local cannabis laws that would create opportunities for agritourism and work to situate Santa Cruz County to cannabis where Napa is to wine.
The other major proposal discussed Tuesday dealt with allowing cannabis growers to open their operations to tours, consumption and sales. Existing law prohibits cannabis growers from direct-to-consumer sales. Dispensary operators, worried that allowing farm sales could cut into their retail business, suggested limiting the farms to selling only one-eighth of an ounce per customer per day. The supervisors agreed.
However, LoForti said this change has a “much longer” path to approval because it deals with land-use changes and would require input from the county planning commission and a California Environmental Quality Act analysis, which can take months to a year.
Koenig, Hernandez and Supervisor Justin Cummings supported advancing the two proposals, with outgoing supervisors Bruce McPherson and Zach Friend voting against. McPherson said he remained concerned over how opening up cannabis consumption would affect public safety, particularly related to intoxicated driving. Friend said he was worried that allowing some dispensaries to open a lounge might give them an unfair competitive advantage. He also was hesitant to support such a significant land-use change for farms.
County staff expect to return to the supervisors on Dec. 10 for a first reading of the cannabis lounge ordinance. The farm tours and sales rule change is expected to return in early 2025.
Have news that should be in Lookout Briefs? Send your press releases, including contact information, to news@lookoutlocal.com.
