Some cannabis dispensaries in San Diego could be forced to shut down once district boundaries are redrawn. The dilemma has prompted the cannabis industry to lobby for a solution before the process is completed in early 2022.
Each of San Diego’s nine council districts are allotted up to four dispensaries under the municipal code. Districts 2, 6, and 8 already have four dispensaries and Districts 1 and 7 will reach their caps soon.
“If new council district boundaries being drawn this year move some dispensaries into different districts, some districts might then exceed the cap of four,” the San Diego-Union Tribune reports. That means some dispensaries would have to go.
The forced closure of some pot shops seems almost inevitable unless something is done. City Attorney Mara Elliott has said affected businesses would have to close once their five-year conditional use permits expire. The four dispensaries with the earliest expiration dates would be spared.
Cannabis industry officials believe that would be fundamentally unfair. They want the existing dispensaries grandfathered in and protected from the boundary changes.
Read more at the San Diego Union-Tribune.