SLO County to loosen cannabis permitting rules, expand dispensary delivery hours
Without controversy, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to loosen permitting rules for cannabis cultivators and expand dispensary delivery hours.
Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg called the changes “improvements to our process.”
Most of the unincorporated county’s cannabis businesses either closed or moved since 2016, according to a recent grand jury report.
When cannabis was legalized in 2016, more than 400 approved cannabis operators worked in unincorporated areas of the county. By 2023, that number dwindled to 25, the report said.
To support the remaining operators and to ensure that the county can collect enough revenue to fund its cannabis enforcement process, the board voted in June to freeze the county’s cannabis business tax rate at 6%. The board’s vote on Tuesday was another step toward improving the county’s cannabis program, Ortiz-Legg said.
Expanded delivery hours, changes to cultivation permits
Previously, cannabis dispensaries based in unincorporated areas — any area of the county outside city limits — could only deliver between 8 a.m. and 8 p. m.
On Tuesday, the board voted to allow dispensaries to expand delivery hours to between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., which aligns with state regulations.
Meanwhile, cannabis cultivation permits previously expired five years after being issued, the staff report said. This was the only type of land use permit that required renewal every five years.
“It’s not only expensive to the operators, it’s a waste of county staff’s time,” cannabis business owner Steven Herring said at public comment. “We have proven that we are good operators. It’s getting tiresome.”
On April 11, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission advised the board to do away with the five-year renewal requirement altogether.
The board agreed, and voted to end the five-year permit renewal requirement.
