The Sacramento Bee…
Sacramento’s 30 existing cannabis dispensary owners will now be able to sell the majority of their business after the city council Tuesday night approved new rules allowing ownership transfers. Dispensary owners have complained that an outright city ban on dispensary transfers or sales was unfair, but the rules were imposed in November 2019 after The Sacramento Bee disclosed that one business group had acquired a third of the city’s dispensaries despite prior city transfer prohibitions. The rules Tuesday also allow dispensary owners to own minority interests in other dispensaries, changing the one dispensary per owner rule, but the ownership stake is limited to five percent. “What we put forth today is a symbol that we are serious about a good business environment,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg ,who was joined by the eight-person city council in approving the measure. Members of the city council are also eyeing whether they should lower the four percent city tax on gross revenue from cannabis businesses in Sacramento, though no action was taken at Tuesday’s meeting.
City Councilman Jay Schenirer, chairman of the law and legislation committee, said Sacramento must stay competitive with its tax rates. “We have a pretty good chance that the county will get into this business,” he said, stating three of the five county supervisors now favor allowing marijuana business in unincorporated parts of Sacramento County, where they are now banned. One change in the city’s marijuana rules appears off the table for now. A plan suggested by city cannabis manager Devina Smith to allow cannabis consumption lounges connected to dispensaries was not in the package approved by the mayor and council. Only two council members Tuesday night, Sean Loloee and Katie Valenzuela, voiced support for discussing the matter in the future. Much of the discussion Tuesday centered on 10 new dispensaries scheduled to open in Sacramento under the city’s social equity or core program.
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