A POT SHOP ON EVERY CORNER

Tracy City Council in their infinite wisdom moved forward by amending the city’s Cannabis Ordinance to allow 1 storefront retailer for every 10,000 residents. If all 10 applicants make it through the permitting process, Tracy will have double the number of cannabis retailers than Stockton. Stockton’s population is roughly 315,000, while Tracy has about 95,000 people. If the proposed amendment goes through, which council has indicated it unanimously supports, then Tracy will have more legal pot shops than Stockton. Let that sink in for a minute.

A September 17 letter to the Tracy City Council from the four companies who received a conditional Cannabis Business Permit from the Tracy Chief of Police in June 2021 outlined how Tracy’s proposed amendment will put Tracy atop of the State in terms of permits per population. Here is the chart they provided below: 

Before we all shout, “We’re Number One”, answer these questions. Tracy does need to create jobs but are these the jobs we want to create? Will it actually create that many jobs? Are they sustainable incomes that will afford the employees an opportunity to buy homes in Tracy? Is this what we want Tracy to be known for? This isn’t a knock on these cannabis businesses, but we must temper our expectations. And while it’s easy for municipalities to look at cannabis retailers as cash cows for their coffers, they should pause a moment to reflect on the implications of that many cannabis retailers in Tracy.

Where will they all go?

Again, proponents may argue there is no guarantee all of these ten applicants will get permitted. But by authorizing 10 available permits eventually all ten permits will issue and ten stores will be operational. With that in mind, where will they be located? Tracy does not have that many commercial corridors. Do we want several in downtown? Do we want them in residential areas? This was a concern raised back in early 2019 when the city began considering allowing cannabis businesses in Tracy. We argue that it’s an even bigger concern now.

With Bill Dean at the head of Development Services, residents should be concerned. As we highlighted previously, Dean isn’t the person to be leading the charge with permitting these businesses. Development Services is a mess that has been led around on a leash by Councilmember Vargas with the support of then City Manager Jenny Haruyama. Right now, the City has an interim City Manager and an interim Development Services Director. Those are big shoes to fill.

Four permits are enough - period.

As opposed to amending the city’s Cannabis Ordinance just to appease rejected applicants while at the same time scrambling to better define the community benefits requirement, the city should a) hire an outside consultant to help remedy the clear issues with the screwy process Dean created and b) open the application process again with the original four allowable permits. While this will not sit well with the original four chosen in June, it fixes what was wrong from the start, makes it a more transparent and honest process, and  eliminates t litigation risks. The approval committee also needs to be expanded beyond Dean and staff. At the end of the day, there is no rush to permit these cannabis businesses. (The delay won’t cause Tracy’s economy to go up in smoke.) They will all still be here in six month’s time if that’s what it takes to do it right, but it’s better for them and the community to do it right from the start, not make it up as we go like Bill Dean is famous for doing.