Two of California’s biggest cities are dragging their feet when it comes cannabis-related businesses.
Yesterday the San Diego City Council on Tuesday unanimously extended a moratorium on recreational cannabis retailers until next December, while the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved temporary restrictions on indoor cultivation until the city approves permanent zoning restrictions.
The moratorium in San Diego, the state’s second-most-populated city, was set to expire this weekend, b ut councilors said they would need more time to draft cannabis market regulations, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The council can lift the moratorium as soon as regulations are adopted, which could be relatively soon.
The city planning commission received proposed rules last month, and the council will conduct a hearing Jan. 31. The proposal allows 15 approved medical marijuana dispensaries – eight of which are already open – to sell recreational weed once California’s recreational legalization law goes into effect.
The planning commission has also recommended that the city allow cannabis cultivation and testing within city limits.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the Board of Supervisors enacted provisional limits on indoor growing yesterday to give officials more time to study the impacts of the cannabis industry, according to SFBay.ca.
However, the San Francisco restrictions allow commercial cannabis growers to apply for conditional-use permits for areas zoned for light industrial and community services uses.
Although California voters legalized cannabis cultivation and recreational use in November, the industry continues to face opposition from municipalities and a precarious regulatory structure.
It seems likely that adult-use sales won’t begin until mid-2018 at the earliest as lawmakers and regulators put together a statewide plan.