Eighteen months after Chula Vista began its cannabis licensing application process, not a single applicant has been approved. Now some city leaders want answers, with Councilman Stephen Padilla threatening to expose some hard truths if something doesn’t change.
“I’m going to begin, if necessary – I hope everyone’s listening – to start asking a lot of tough questions in a more public way very soon if things don’t start moving along more quickly,” said Padilla. “I’m aware of what’s going on behind the scenes. It’s just not something that’s tolerable.”
He made the statement during a meeting last week in which the Council was discussing a proposal to expand the number of allowable dispensaries. Currently, the city allows up to three commercial cannabis businesses, including two dispensaries in each council district.
The proposal to expand the number of dispensaries failed in part because the city hasn’t filled the open slots it already has.
“I don’t think that it’s wise to change anything until we do what we told voters we would do,” explained Councilwoman Jill Galvez. The approval process, she said, is taking “far longer than it should have.”