The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved loosening zoning regulations for cannabis businesses in designated locations as part of a unanimous vote in favor of granting a permit for a new marijuana supplier in Highgrove.
Excel Riverside Inc. is the second commercial cannabis outlet to receive authorization to conduct business in an unincorporated area of Riverside County.
The proprietors came before the board in May seeking a conditional use permit and development agreement, but at the time, the supervisors voted 3-2 against the proposal because it would have meant allowing a cannabis operation to open less than 1,000 feet from a previously licensed one in the area of Center Street and Iowa Avenue.
The county’s 2018 Marijuana Comprehensive Regulatory Framework, codified under Ordinance No. 348, specified that all cannabis stores and distribution outlets be at least 1,000 feet apart.
Supervisor Karen Spiegel, in whose Second District Excel Riverside will be situated, was initially dissatisfied with granting an exemption to the operation because she worried about the shop impacting surrounding businesses, where the other marijuana dispensary had only recently opened its doors. Supervisors Kevin Jeffries and Chuck Washington agreed.
However, Spiegel said Tuesday that her concerns had been allayed, and she was “satisfied” with the revisions to Ordinance No. 348 that the Transportation & Land Management Agency brought forward to give Excel Riverside another chance.
The other supervisors did not object.
The agency’s key revision to the ordinance, which was previously approved by the county Planning Commission, was to remove the 1,000-foot buffer requirement when cannabis providers seek to do business within a defined “commercial corridor” that is less than a half-mile from a specific freeway, including Interstates 10, 15 and 215, as well as state Routes 60 and 91.
Excel Riverside will be on a .41-acre lot just southeast of Interstate 215.
“The project has no direct impact on citizens or businesses,” according to a statement from the Transportation & Land Management Agency.
The 3,950-square-foot marijuana retail outlet will employ about 30 people, including armed security guards, and will be in operation seven days a week, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.
The board-approved 10-year development agreement with the business requires an up-front public benefit payment to the county of $33,696 and an ongoing annual payment of $40,040.
The business will also be paying state and local taxes.
Officials noted that the agreement with Excel Riverside does not imply that other proprietors will receive the same terms. All proposed conditional use permits and development agreements require individual hearings and are subject to approval by the board.