AGENDA
ITEM
23 AGENDA
CALEXICO California ITEM
WHERE CALIFORNIA AND MEXICO MEET
23 CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA STAFF REPORT
DATE: October 15, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
APPROVED BY: Benjamin A. Martinez, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Michael Coyne, Planning & Building Director I SUBJECT: Public Hearing on an Urgency Interim Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Calexico, California, Establishing a Moratorium on New Applications and New Permit Renewal Applications for Commercial Cannabis Businesses Recommendation:
To Adopt an Urgency Interim Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Calexico, California, Establishing a Moratorium on New Applications and New Permit Renewal Applications for Commercial Cannabis Businesses
Background:
On May 7, 2025 a report on the status of the City's Commercial Cannabis Permitting Program was provided to the City Council (Attachment No. 1). Although the City granted 30 regulatory permits to commercial cannabis business applicants and 10 obtained licenses to operate from the California Department of Cannabis Control, only two possess active State-issued licenses. Based on data from the City's Finance Department, tax revenues received by the City from commercial cannabis businesses have been decreasing year after year. The City has also received reports and opened code violation cases against businesses illegally engaged in the sale of cannabis products and paraphernalia. Based on this initial assessment and ongoing enforcement issues, the City has identified the need to evaluate potential revisions to the Calexico Municipal Code to update the cannabis business permitting process and bolster mechanisms for monitoring, enforcement and financial auditing of commercial cannabis businesses.
Without the proper permitting process and effective regulatory mechanisms for adequate oversight of the City's cannabis industry there is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare if new permits for cannabis businesses and activities are issued due to the nuisances created by an inadequately regulated cannabis industry included illicit drug use by minors and increased public safety calls for service related to theft, loitering, vandalism, and other criminal activity. To address these issues, the City Council can consider an interim urgency ordinance that would place an immediately effective forty-five (45) day moratorium on the acceptance of new applications or new permit renewal applications for commercial cannabis businesses. The moratorium would suspend the intake of any new cannabis
applications while the City undertakes a study of land use and public safety impacts of cannabis businesses and develop potential revisions to the Calexico Municipal Code as related to zoning, permitting, licensing, monitoring, enforcement, and financial auditing of cannabis businesses.
Discussion and Analysis:
California Government Code section 65858 authorizes the legislative body of a city to adopt as an urgency measure an interim ordinance prohibiting any land uses that may be in conflict with a contemplated general plan, specific plan, or zoning proposal that the legislative body is considering or studying or intends to study within a reasonable time, without following the procedures otherwise required for adopting a zoning ordinance. A moratorium essentially suspends or pauses the intake and processing of related land use applications. To place this pause on permitting, the City Council is required to adopt an urgency ordinance by a four-fifths (4/5) vote of the City Council.
If adopted, the moratorium will take effect immediately and remain in effect for forty-five days (expiring on November 29, 2025). During the moratorium period, the City will study potential amendments to the Calexico Municipal Code and/or any governing City planning documents or policies as related to zoning, permitting, licensing, monitoring, enforcement, and financial auditing of cannabis businesses. The City Council is authorized to extend the initial 45-day term of the moratorium with a new ordinance adopted at a duly noticed public hearing. As a public hearing is being held on the subject interim urgency ordinance with public notice provided in the Calexico Chronicle on October 3, 2025, the interim ordinance can be extended for up to 22 months and 15 day as set forth in Government Code 65858(b). As staff will need additional time for a full report and recommended modifications to the Calexico Municipal Code, a request for an extension to this interim urgency ordinance would be presented to the City Council at the regular meeting on November 19, 2025.
Under the proposed ordinance, the City will not accept any new applications for the establishment of new cannabis businesses or any applications for permit renewals for cannabis businesses with inactive licenses that wish to reestablish their businesses. The City has received two renewal applications for existing cannabis businesses with active licenses and will continue to process these permit applications.
Staff recommends that the City Council find that the proposed ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act because the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, and because it has no potential for resulting in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment (Sections 15060(c)(2) and (3)).
Fiscal Impact:
The proposed interim urgency ordinance will not have a direct fiscal impact on the City.
Coordinated With: Carlos Campos, City Attorney.
Attachments):
1. May 7, 2025 City Council Staff Report
Draft Interim Urgency Ordinance
ATTACHMENT NO. 1
AGENDA
CALEXICO California ITEM
WHERE CALIFORNIA AND MEXICO MEET
22 CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA STAFF REPORT
DATE: May 7, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
Fict
APPROVED BY: Richard A. Daniels, Interim City Manager
PREPARED BY: Michael Coyne, Planning & Building Director SUBJECT: Report on the Status of the City's Commercial Cannabis Permitting Program ======== 2222222222222222222222222222222222222282222s:222s2 Recommendation:
Receive and file report on the status of the City's commercial cannabis permitting program and provide direction to staff on the Council's vision for the cannabis industry within the City.
Background:
On November 8, 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act ("AUMA"), legalizing the use and possession of cannabis and cannabis products by adults aged 21 years and older. It should be noted that in Imperial County, 54.7% of voters rejected Proposition 64. On June 27, 2017, Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill 94, which repealed the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act ("MCRSA"), included certain provisions of MCRSA in the licensing provisions of AUMA, and created a single regulatory scheme for both medicinal and non- medicinal cannabis known as the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act ("MAUCRSA").
MAUCRSA retains the provisions in the MCRSA and the AUMA that granted local jurisdictions control over whether non-commercial and commercial cannabis activities could occur in a particular jurisdiction. Specifically, California Business and Professions Code section 26200 provides that MAUCRSA shall not be interpreted to supersede or limit the authority of a local jurisdiction to adopt and enforce local ordinances to regulate businesses licensed under this division, including, but not limited to, local zoning and land use requirements. The California Department of Cannabis Control began issuing licenses to cannabis businesses beginning January 1, 2018. MAUCRSA establishes a regulatory structure for cultivation, processing, manufacturing, tracking, quality control, testing, inspection, distribution, and retail sale of commercial cannabis, including medicinal and adult-use cannabis. The Act designates applicable responsibilities for oversight of cannabis commerce to State agencies.
On July 5, 2017, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1177 allowing commercial cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, testing, and distribution within a restricted geographic area identified as the Cannabis Overlay Zone (Attachment No. 1). On the same date, Ordinance No. 1178 was also adopted,
which created a regulatory permit scheme for commercial cannabis businesses. Initially, City regulations only permitted non-retail cannabis businesses. However, on December 19, 2018, the City Council adopted Ordinance Nos. 1191 & 1192 which permitted up to five retail cannabis businesses to operate within the Cannabis Overlay Zone. Subsequently, in 2019 the City Council adopted ordinances to increase the number of permitted retail cannabis businesses from five to seven and then, from seven to 12. On May 15, 2019, the City Council also adopted Ordinance No. 1200 conditionally allowing cannabis testing laboratories in commercial and industrial zones outside of the Cannabis Overlay Zone.
The intent of these ordinances is to regulate the testing, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution, retail sale and transportation of medicinal and nonmedicinal cannabis for adult use in the City of Calexico.
On November 6, 2018, Measure K, a Cannabis Business Tax, was passed by 73.5% of Calexico voters. Measure K imposed a maximum tax rate on cannabis businesses of up to twenty-five dollars ($25) per square foot for space utilized in connection with a cannabis business and up to fifteen percent (15%) of gross receipts generated by a cannabis business. Measure K authorizes the City Council to set the actual tax rates, provided that the rates do not exceed the voter-approved maximum rates set by Measure K. Measure K is a "general tax" and all revenue from this tax is deposited into the City's General Fund and can be used for general City operations and services, including police enforcement, emergency response, parks, youth and senior services, and street repair. On December 10, 2018, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1194 establishing the maximum business tax rates authorized under Measure K.
Discussion and Analysis:
Regulatory Framework
Chapter 3.40, Chapter 5.96, and Chapter 17.11, Article X of the Calexico Municipal Code (CMC) outline the commercial cannabis activities that may be permitted within the City and set forth the permitting and regulatory requirements, including taxation, to establish and maintain a commercial cannabis business within the City. Commercial cannabis activities that may be permitted within the City include:
• Cultivation.
• Manufacturing.
• Laboratory testing.
• Distribution.
• Retail sale (including delivery).
• Non-storefront retail.
• Microbusinesses.
Possession, processing, storing, and labeling of cannabis and cannabis products that is incidental to each of the above activities may also be permitted. Each activity is specifically defined in the CMC.
The definitions conform to MCRSA, AUMA, and MAUCRSA.
The definitions for retail cannabis businesses are somewhat nuanced. A retailer is a permittee that sells and/or delivers cannabis or cannabis products to customers. A storefront retailer is like a dispensary, though that term is no longer used in State law. Retailers are allowed to deliver cannabis to customers in strict compliance with the CMC and State law. A non-storefront retailer means a cannabis retailer that provides cannabis exclusively through delivery. Customers are not allowed to patronize non-storefront retailers. Microbusiness means a commercial business that engages in at least three of the following commercial cannabis activities: cultivation of cannabis on an area less than 10,000 square feet, manufacturing, distribution, and/or retail sale.
All permitted commercial cannabis businesses (with the exception of testing laboratories) must operate within the Cannabis Overlay Zone, a 354-acre area in the northwestern portion of the City in the Industrial (IND), Industrial Rail Served (IR) and Commercial Highway (CH) Zones (see attached Cannabis Overlay Zone Map, Attachment No. 1).
Prior to initiating operations and as a continuing requisite to operate a commercial cannabis activity, applicants are required to obtain a validly issued Conditional Use Permit (CUP) or enter into a fully executed development agreement approved by the City Council. Each CUP or development agreement includes a condition or provision that the applicant must also obtain and maintain a Commercial Cannabis Activity Regulatory Permit (CCARP) required by the CMC. The purpose of the CCARP is to ensure proper recordkeeping, including of sales receipts and tax returns, and to provide operating and building standards to limit the potential for criminal activity, degradation of the natural environmental, electrical fire hazards, offensive odors and other potential impacts to the community.
To obtain a CUP and CCARP or enter into a Development Agreement and obtain a CARP, applicants must provide the following as part of a comprehensive application:
• Comprehensive applicant/entity information.
• Extensive financial disclosures.
• Copies of all other state or locally issued cannabis-related permits or licenses. • Security plan.
• Odor control plan.
• Business plan.
• Community relations plan.
• Neighborhood responsibility plan.
• Proof of adequate insurance.
• Budget.
• Authorization for Livescan fingerprinting.
• Federal, state and local background checks.
Upon submitting a complete application and internal review and comment by City staff, the CUP is presented by Planning Staff to the Planning Commission for action. Alternatively, a Development Agreement is presented to the City Council for action. Upon approval of the CUP or Development Agreement, the CCARP is issued to the applicant. With a CUP, the initial life of the permitted cannabis business is three years. With a Development Agreement, the initial life of the permitted cannabis business is on a case-by-case basis and may be beyond three years. The applicant must then obtain a license from the California Department of Cannabis Control in order to operate their City-approved cannabis business. As a prerequisite to obtaining a State license, applicants must first gain approval of the CCARP from the City. Applicants must file for a renewal of the CCARP prior to permit expiration in order maintain their City permit and State license active.
Conditions of the CUP/Development Agreement and CCARP require cannabis business operators to continuously comply with the following:
• Business License.
• Security plan.
• Odor control plan.
• Business plan.
• Community relations plan.
• Neighborhood responsibility plan.
• A track and trace' system that produces historical transactional and financial data for review by the City Manager for auditing purposes.
• All records must be available to the City for the past three (3) years on 24 hours' notice. • Emergency contact with contact information and 24/7 availability. • Community relations manager.
• Cannabis consumption prohibited at certain businesses. • Alcohol prohibited
• Specialized building standards.
• Regulatory permit must be displayed in a prominent location. • City manager or designee may make periodic, unannounced inspections. • Full compliance with state law, including maintaining state cannabis license.
Assessment of Cannabis Activities
With the initial roll out of the City's cannabis permitting program in 2017, the City received five commercial cannabis applications in 2017 and one in 2018. The initial applications were primarily for cultivation as the City initially did not permit retail cannabis businesses. After adoption of Ordinance Nos. 1191 & 1192 in December 2018, which opened commercial cannabis applications to retail activities, the City saw a significant influx of new cannabis applications, with 23 applications received in 2019 alone. It should be noted that Calexico was the first City in the Imperial Valley to permit retail cannabis businesses. After 2019, the submission of new cannabis applications to the City tapered significantly, with four received in 2020, three in 2021, and two in 2022. No new cannabis applications have been received to date. Of the 37 cannabis applications received since 2017, the City granted 30 regulatory permits to cannabis applicants. Of these cannabis applicants for which the City issued permits, 10 were able to obtain licenses to operate from the California Department of Cannabis Control.
However, to date only two cannabis licenses remain active - one for a commercial retailer and one for cultivation, both of which continue to legally operate within the City. A full list of cannabis applications received to date by the City is provided in Attachment No. 2. A Code Enforcement case has been opened for a formerly permitted and licensed commercial retailer that continues to operate within the City despite having its cannabis license revoked by the state. Code Enforcement is coordinating with the Imperial County Department of Environmental Health, Police Department, and California Department of Cannabis Control to bring the business into compliance or have it cease operations.
The trajectory of tax revenue received by the Citv from permitted cannabis activities has mirrored the decline in active cannabis businesses, particularly retail businesses. Tax revenues peaked in 2021, with the City collecting $290,317.14 and have steadily fallen year after year, with the City collecting $202,758.80 in 2022, $170,956.00 in 2023 and $155,735.80 in 2024. In addition to fewer active cannabis businesses operating in the City, the reduction in revenues may be explained by market saturation, as surrounding jurisdictions, including the County of Imperial and the City of El Centro have rolled out their own commercial cannabis programs, with numerous new retail outlets opening in those jurisdictions that may be competing with Calexico cannabis businesses and leading to market cannibalization. Monitoring and auditing of cannabis businesses sales receipts, manifests, tax returns, and financial statements by the City has also been lax due to staffing constraints.
Considerations
The City chose to geographically limit cannabis activities (cultivation, manufacturing, transportation, and retail storefronts) to a limited single area. Whereas that may be appropriate for cannabis cultivation and product manufacturing, it fails to understand the needs of cannabis retail businesses. Like all retail businesses, they need to be readily accessible to the shopping public. However, it is important to weigh
the unique and special externalities that limit their acceptability. As such, should the City consider expanding the areas where cannabis activities may be permitted? The process for establishing a cannabis business in the City is also convoluted, with the requirement for a CUP or Development Agreement AND a regulatory permit. Many jurisdictions have set up a regulatory scheme with a single permit process. Should the City also look at modifying the permitting process? The key to regulating the cannabis industry is to regularly conduct site inspections, with occasional unannounced inspections, completing records checks on current inventories, comparisons to the last visit, demonstration of compliance with the state's tracking and manifest system on all sales, cash register receipts for all retail sales with video recordings and 90-day histories, proof of licensed transportation companies used, proof of livescan certifications for all employees and owners, and proof of 100% video coverage inside and outside of the facility. Adequate Code Enforcement staffing, training and certification on inspecting and monitoring cannabis businesses is necessary for successful regulation of the industry. To assist with regulating cannabis businesses, the City also has the option to contract with a firm that specializes in monitoring cannabis businesses by completing on-site compliance inspections and auditing financial records. Should the City look into this option which may require the allocation of funding?
Fiscal Impact:
None.
Coordinated With:
Richard A. Daniels, Interim City Manager
Attachments):
1. Cannabis Overlay Zone Map
2. List of Cannabis Applications
CANNABIS OVERLAY ZONE MAP
NOTE:
PLEASE NOTE COLOR DOES
NOT REPRESENT ZONING
DESIGNATIONS OR USES.
CITY OF CALEXICO, CA
CENTER PARKWAY
ROBINSON AVE
SUNSET BLVD
ROBINSON AVE
TOWNCENTER PARKWAY SUNSET BLYD
PORTICO
I COLE BLVD MY COLE BLYO
SCARON FD
LEGEND
Cannabis Zoning PORTICO BLYD
Boundary Line CUESTE BUILDING; PLANNING CANNABID OVESCAY ZONE 20191C)
WEAKLEY AD
ON CHORNO
REVISION SIZE DRAWN BY PROJECT DESCRIPTION: SHEET TIME:
SHEET:
* B CITY OF CALENICO IVAN N. SATELLITE LOCATION
CANNABIS ZONING A03
DATE MAP
05/08/2019
COMMERCIAL CANNABIS APPLICATIONS
APPLICATION NO. PROJECT/ADDRESS BUSINESSNAME PROJECT DESCRIPTION STATUS UA2017-10 CUP-CANNABIS CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURING REVOKED 10/28/19
UA 2017-19 CUP TO OPERATE, CULTIVATE, AND ANUFACTURE RECREATIONAL APN: 059-343-016 AND MEDICAL CANNABIS. WITHDRAWN
DESERT VALLEY PARTNERS, LLC NIA
UA 2017-20 2421 ENTERPRISES BLVD CALEXICO DISTRIBUTION CO CUP-CANNABIS TRANSPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITY 10728/19 REVOKED UA 2017-21 APN: 059-343-006 COLE BOULEVARD ADVISORS, LLC CUP TO OPERATE, CULTIVATE, AND MANUFACTURE RECREATIONAL WITHDRAWH AND MEDICAL CANNABIS. NIA
UA 2017-22 APNs: 059-343-000/059-543-014 BARRINGTON CUP-CANNABIS CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURING NIA WITHDRAWN UA 2018-10 2421 PORTICO BLVD KOOKIEKING CANNABAKE EDIBLES BAKERY CUP-CANNABIS MANUFACTURING 03/25/19 REVOKED UA 2019-02 344 WEAKLY ST VALLEY GREENS CUP-CANNABIS DISTRIBUTION 06/10/19 REVOKED UA 2019-03 2431 ENTERPRISE BLVD CUP-CANNABIS DISTRIBUTION 03/25/19 REVOKED UA 2019-04 338 WEAKLY RO IMPERIAL GREENS CUP-CANNABIS 06/10/19 REVOKED UA 2019-06 IVAN DE GRAFF MOCOVAN CUP CANNARIS 03/25/19 REVOKED UA 2019-07 2405 VAN DE GRAFF ELEMENTAL HOLISTIC CUP-CANNABIS 06/10/19 REVOKEO UA 2019-08 551 HIGHWAY 111 HEAUS TASH DOBLE A CUP-CANNABIS 12/02/19 REVOKED UA 2019-C-09 2420 PORTICO BLVD #C VALLEY HOLISTIC CUP-CANNABIS STOREFRONT RETAIL FACILITY 01/13/20 REVOKEO UA 2019-09 2251 PORTICO BLVD JJ PHARMA CUP CANNABIS CULTIVATION 01/10/19 REVOKED UA 2019-C-10 2420 PORTICO BLVD #A TRUELEAF WELLNESS CUP-CANNABIS 01/13/20 REVOKEO UA 2019-11 501 3RD ST IMPERIAL VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY CUP-CANNABIS 0B105/19 REVOKED UA 2019-C-11 565 SCARONI RD THREE GREENS COLLECTIVE CUP-CANNABIS 01/13/20 REVOKED UA 2019-C-12 2411 ENTERPRISE BLVO CALEXICO DISPENSARY CUP-CANNABIS 02/10/20 TREVOKED UA 2019-12 JL CALEXICO, LLC DBA: URBAN LEAF/KEYSTONE CUP-CANNABIS RETAIL BUSINESS 559-565 SCARONI RD NDUSTRIES LLC DBA: CATALYST GANNABIS CO REVOKED UA 2019-13 559 SCARONI RO SUPREME GREENS CUP-CANNABIS
UA 2019-C-14 AMG DYNAMIC ENTERPRISES INC. DBA: TRULEAF CUP-CANNABIS MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION 2024 PORTICO BLD STE #A DISTRIBUTORS REVOKED
03/25/19
UA 2019-24 551 HWY 111 HEADSTASH/ DOBLE A CUP-CANNABIS MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION 10/14/19 REVOKED UA 2019-23 374 CAMACHO ROAD CALEXICO DYNAMICS VENTURES LLC CUP-CANNABIS CULTIVATION FACILITY 10/14/19 REVOKED JA 2018-20 374 CAMACHO ROAD CALEXICO GROUP CUP-CANNABIS MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION 10/14/19 REVOKED UA 2019-26 2421 PORTICO BOULEVARD VALLEY MADE CUP-CANNABIS MANUFACTURING AND DISTRIBUTION 09/23/19 REVOKED UA 2019-27 2421 ENTERPRISE BLVD CALEXICO DISTRIBUTION COMPANY LLC CUP RENEWAL-CANNABIS DISTRIBUTION AND MANUFACTURING 10/28/19 REVOKED UA 2019-30 300 W COLE BLVD CR MANUFACTURING CA INC DBA: ORCHID FARMS CUP-CANNABIS CULTIVATION WITHORAWH
COMMERCIAL CANNABIS NIA
UA 2019-31 565 SCARONI RD THREE GREENS CUP CANNABIS DISTRIBUTION 10728/19 REVOKED UA 2019-31-B 300 W COLE BLVD PURE ROOTS, INC CUP-CANNABIS RETAIL 09/28/20 REVOKED
CUP-MICROBUSINESS
UA 2020-05 2403 VAN DE GRAAP AVE 06/1720 REVOKED
(CULTIVATION MANUFACTURING/DISTRIBUTION)
UA 2020-0B 559-565 SCARONI OR HWY 111 KEYSTONE INDUSTRIAL CALEXICO, LLC DBA: CUP- CANNABIS RETAIL
WELLGREENS DISPENSARY NIA WITHDRAWN
UA 2020-13 OW COLE BL ARM ELITE COMMERCE, LLC CUP-CANNABIS RETAIL DISPENSARY UA 2020-16 N 059-543-001 (TOWNCENT [LUSSO, LLE CUP-CANNABIS CULTIVATION FAGILITY UA 2021-09 2420 PORTICO BLD STEN A AMG DYNAMIC ENTERPRISE DBA LA BOTICA CUP-MICROBUSINESS CUP CULTIVATION, DETRI AND REAL READ 06/13/22 ACTIVE
UA 2021-10 2421 PORTICO BLD SUITE B VALLEY LIC MICROBUSINESS OPERATIONS) 1118/2021 REVOKED UA 2021-15 200 W COLE BLVD CALEXICO PRIME LLC CUP-COMMERCIAL CANNABIS CULTIVATION 10/2821 TACTIVE UA 2022-0! 200 W COLE BLVD CALEXICO PIONEER, LLC [CUP-CANNABIS MANUFATURING NIA INCOMPLETE ATTACHMENT NO. 2
ORDINANCE NO.
AN URGENCY INTERIM ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CALEXICO, CALIFORNIA, ESTABLISHING A MORATORIUM ON NEW
APPLICATIONS AND NEW PERMIT RENEWAL APPLICATIONS FOR
COMMERCIAL CANNABIS BUSINESSES
WHEREAS, to protect the public safety, health, and welfare, California Government Code section 65858 authorizes the legislative body of a city to adopt as an urgency measure an interim ordinance prohibiting any land uses that may be in conflict with a contemplated general plan, specific plan, or zoning proposal that the legislative body is considering or studying or intends to study within a reasonable time, without following the procedures otherwise required for adopting a zoning ordinance; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 3.40, Chapter 5.96, and Chapter 17.11, Article X of the Calexico Municipal Code (CMC) outline the commercial cannabis activities that may be permitted within the City and set forth the permitting and regulatory requirements, including taxation, to establish and maintain a commercial cannabis business within the City; and WHEREAS, the City granted 30 regulatory permits to commercial cannabis business applicants and 10 obtained licenses to operate from the California Department of Cannabis Control; and
WHEREAS, only two commercial cannabis businesses possess active State-issued licenses and have submitted required permit renewals with the City that are actively being processed; and
WHEREAS, tax revenues received by the City from commercial cannabis businesses have been decreasing year after year with the City collecting $290,317.14 in 2021, $202,758.80 in 2022, $170,956.00 in 2023 and $155,735.80 in 2024; and
WHEREAS, the City has received reports and opened code violation cases against businesses illegally engaged in the sale of cannabis products and paraphernalia; and WHEREAS, the City has identified the need to evaluate potential revisions to the Calexico Municipal Code to update the cannabis business permitting process and bolster mechanisms for monitoring, enforcement and financial auditing of commercial cannabis businesses; and WHEREAS, without the proper permitting process and effective regulatory mechanisms for adequate oversight of the City's cannabis industry there is a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare if new permits for cannabis businesses and activities are issued due to the nuisances created by an inadequately regulated cannabis industry included illicit drug use by minors and increased public safety calls for service related to theft, loitering, vandalism, and other criminal activity; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the foregoing, the City Council wishes to immediately undertake a study of land use and public safety impacts of commercial cannabis businesses to develop potential revisions to the Calexico Municipal Code as related to zoning, permitting, licensing, monitoring, enforcement, and financial auditing of commercial cannabis businesses; and 1 ORDINANCE NO.
WHEREAS, absent the adoption of this Ordinance, the establishment, reestablishment, or expansion of commercial cannabis businesses may pose a serious threat to the public health, safety, and weltare; and
WHEREAS, as a result, it is necessary to establish a temporary, forty-five (45) calendar day moratorium on the establishment, reestablishment, or expansion of commercial cannabis businesses within the City, for the duration of this Ordinance, or any extension thereof, pending the completion of the City's study; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing was held on October 15, 2025 by the City Council on this urgency ordinance with public notice provided in a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated in the City in accordance with Section 65858(b) of the California Government Code; and
WHEREAS, the City Council determines, by a four-fifths (4/5) vote, that this urgency ordinance is a matter of citywide importance, is a reasonable and necessary measure designed for the immediate preservation and protection of the public health, safety, or welfare of the community, and is in accord with the public purposes and provisions of applicable State and local laws and requirements.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CALEXICO, CALIFORNIA, DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The foregoing recitals and statements of fact are true and correct, constitute a substantive part of this Ordinance, and are incorporated herein by this reference. Based on these facts, the City Council finds, determines and declares that this Ordinance, which establishes a forty-five (45) day moratorium on the acceptance of new applications or permit renewal applications for commercial cannabis businesses, is necessary as an emergency measure for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety pursuant to, and as authorized by, Section 65858(a) of the California Government Code.
SECTION 2. This moratorium shall not apply to legally established and currently operating commercial cannabis businesses with an active State-issued license and with a pending renewal application with the City. This moratorium shall not affect the City's authority to revoke a commercial cannabis permit.
SECTION 3. During this moratorium, the City will study and develop potential amendments to the Calexico Municipal Code or any other governing City planning document or policy related to zoning, permitting, licensing, monitoring, enforcement, and financial auditing of commercial cannabis businesses.
SECTION 4. City Council hereby enacts this interim urgency ordinance at a duly noticed public hearing by not less than a four-fifths vote, and in light of the findings set forth herein, under the authority granted to it by Article XI, Section 7 of the California Constitution and Section 65858 of the California Government Code to protect public safety, health, and welfare, prohibiting any 2 ORDINANCE NO.
uses that may be in conflict this ordinance and the issues City Council intends to immediately begin to study.
SECTION 5. City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act because the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, and because it has no potential for resulting in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment (Sections 15060(c)(2) and (3)).
SECTION 6. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are severable. City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any particular portion thereof.
SECTION 7. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon adoption if adopted by at least a four-fifths vote of the City Council and shall be in effect for forty-five days from the date of adoption unless extended by Council in accordance with Government Code Section 65858.
SECTION 8. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of this ordinance and cause the same or a summary thereof to be published within fifteen (15) days after adoption in a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated in the City.
PASSED APPROVED, AND ADOPTED as an Urgency Interim Ordinance in accordance with Government Code section 65858 at a regular meeting of the City Council held on this 15" day of October 2025.
Diana Nuricumbo, Mayor
ATTEST:
Veronica Luna-Alvarado, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Carlos Campos, City Attorney
3 State of California )
County of Imperial ) s.S.
City of Calexico )
I, Veronica Luna-Alvarado, City Clerk of the City of Calexico, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Urgency Interim Ordinance was adopted by a four-fifths (4/5) vote at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Calexico held on the 15" day of October, 2025, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
Veronica Luna-Alvarado, City Clerk