Costa Mesa planning commissioners approved the city’s first two retail cannabis permits at its regular meeting June 13.
The new retail outlets are planned for Harbor and Newport boulevards.
“We’re excited to be one of the first storefront retailers here,” Culture Cannabis Club owner Devon Julian told commissioners before his permit was unanimously approved.
Culture Cannabis Club would offer sales and delivery of cannabis products from a retail outlet at 2301 Newport Boulevard, west of the 55 Freeway, in a 3,600-square-foot building. Current businesses in the strip mall include the Newport Cosmetic Center and other medical services. The cannabis store would occupy the entire building, according to a city staff report.
The club has 22 retail permits in California and currently operates retail outlets in Long Beach, Banning, Jurupa Valley, Calexico, and Moreno Valley. If the business receives all required city and state permits, the shop will allow customers aged 18 and older to shop there. The legal age to purchase cannabis products is typically 21, but 18-year-olds would be allowed to shop at the store if they have a medical recommendation.
Costa Mesa will require the company to have security and safety plans, a trained traffic attendant on site, a lighting plan and landscaping. Culture Cannabis Club plans to have around-the-clock security with an armed security guard on site, Julian said.
“Security and safety are of the highest importance for Culture Cannabis Club,” he said.
The store will not have products on the retail floor. Instead, customers will select products from kiosks and staff will fill orders from a backroom area, Julian said.
The business also plans to use 2 percent of its gross receipts to contribute back to the community, he said.
The second shop, 420 Central, plans to open at 1990 Harbor Boulevard and sell retail cannabis at the store without a delivery service. The store will also have 24-hour security and a parking attendant.
The owner of 420 Central, Robert Taft, Jr., and his partners purchased the building two years ago in anticipation of opening. Taft, a former Orange County Superior Court officer from Costa Mesa, said he had waited more than nine years for the approval.
“We’ve been waiting for this for quite some time,” Taft said.
Taft currently co-owns 420 Central cannabis shop in Santa Ana and CMX Distribution company in Costa Mesa. The 24,000-square-foot building is vacant but, if finalized, will allow the company to sell cannabis products from the retail floor. The business will not allow delivery.
The 420 Central permit was approved 5–2, with commissioners Jimmy Vivar and Adam Ereth voting against it.
According to Costa Mesa’s cannabis regulations, the shops can open in any commercially zoned location.
The city does not have a cap on the number of cannabis retail permits. Santa Ana, the only other Orange County city to allow cannabis storefronts, can only approve up to 30.
Not many residents opposed the permits at the meeting.
One resident, Rod Hoover, who has owned a printing business in Costa Mesa for 58 years, told the commission he had concerns about whether the store would affect property values.
“I just see this not going well,” Hoover said.
Costa Mesa voters approved Measure X in November 2016, allowing medical cannabis manufacturing, packaging, distribution, research, and development in certain areas of the city called the “green zone” that includes an industrial park and other industrial businesses.
In 2018, non-medical adult-use cannabis was legalized in California. The Costa Mesa City Council adopted rules that year to allow legal cannabis facility to be located within the green zone.
Two years later, in 2020, city voters approved Measure Q to allow the city to adopt regulations permitting storefront retail and delivery services within Costa Mesa.
Several retail cannabis permit applications are in the pipeline for review by the city’s Planning Commission.
Some commissioners said they were excited about the first permit approvals.
“It’s exciting that we’re finally seeing these applications and public hearings, implementing the people’s will for this particular industry,” said Planning Commission Chair Byron de Arakal. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.”
The permit approvals can be appealed to the city council within seven days. Following the commission’s permit approval, the cannabis outlets will need to apply for building permits, pass inspections, and local and state licenses before opening.
