AGENDA
ITEM
15 AGENDA
CALEXICO California ITEM
WHERE CALIFORNIA AND MEXICO MEET
15 CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA STAFF REPORT
DATE: November 19, 2025
TO: Mayor and City Council
•Bur
APPROVED BY: Benjamin A. Martinez, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Wisha Cyne, Hang & Baiting Dread a
SUBJECT: An Urgency Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Calexico, California, Extending a Temporary Moratorium on New Applications and New Permit Renewal Applications for Commercial Cannabis Businesses for an Additional Period of 22 Months And 15 Days
SEE FEE SEE SEARCESSA
Recommendation:
To Adopt an Urgency Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Calexico, California, Extending a Temporary Moratorium on New Applications and New Permit Renewal Applications for Commercial Cannabis Businesses for an Additional Period of 22 Months And 15 Days.
Background:
The proposed Urgency Ordinance would extend the Urgency Interim Ordinance (Ordinance No. 1247; attached) adopted unanimously by the City Council on October 15, 2025. Pursuant to California Government Code Section 65858, the Urgency Interim Ordinance expires 45 days from adoption, but may be extended within this 45-day period at a duly noticed public hearing for a period of up to 22 months and 15 days. The subject public hearing has been duly noticed and would meet this procedural requirement. Under the proposed Urgency 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 until a new, permanent ordinance is in place.
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. As with the Urgency Interim Ordinance, the proposed Urgency Ordinance extending the moratorium on new cannabis businesses requires a minimum 4/5ths Council vote for adoption.
If adopted, the moratorium will take effect immediately and remain in effect for 22 months and 15 days from the adoption date. In accordance with Government Code Section 65858(d) this Staff Report serves as the written report on the measures taken to date to alleviate the condition which led to the adoption of the Urgency Interim Ordinance. Measures taken to date include informing prospective cannabis applicants of the moratorium and informing the Department of Cannabis Control of the moratorium to ensure proper revocations are in place and new applications are not processed by the State. The City has also formed a Cannabis Task Force consisting of the City Manager, Police Chief, Fire Chief, City Attorney, and Planning & Building Director to develop strategies to address issues with cannabis permitting, monitoring, and enforcement that will better protect the health, safety and welfare of residents, businesses, and visitors. 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, penalties for illegal cannabis sales, and financial auditing of cannabis businesses. The moratorium extension period would allow for sufficient time to craft a new permanent ordinance that adequately regulates the cannabis industry within the City and sets forth stiffer penalties that serve as a more effective deterrent to illegal cannabis sales.
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. Ordinance No. 1247
2. Draft Urgency Ordinance
ATTACHMENT NO. 1
ORDINANCE NO. 1247
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 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 welfare; 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 1 ORDINANCE NO. 1247
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 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. 2 ORDINANCE NO. 1247
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 Dilut
Diana Nuricumbo, Mayor
ATTEST:
Veronica Luna-Alvarado, City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Carlos Campos, City Attorney
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 No. 1247 was adopted by a unanimous 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 to wit:
AYES: Nuricumbo, Legaspi, Tylenda, Marquez, Calderon
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: None
Veronica Luna-Alvarado, City Clerk
ATTACHMENT NO. 2
ORDINANCE NO.
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
CALEXICO, CALIFORNIA, EXTENDING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON NEW
APPLICATIONS AND NEW PERMIT RENEWAL APPLICATIONS FOR
COMMERCIAL CANNABIS BUSINESSES FOR AN ADDITIONAL PERIOD OF 22 MONTHS AND 15 DAYS
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, including adopting stricter penalties for the illegal sale of cannabis; 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
1 ORDINANCE NO.
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 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 welfare; and
WHEREAS, as a result, it is necessary to establish a moratorium on the establishment, reestablishment, or expansion of commercial cannabis businesses within the City, for the duration of this Ordinance, pending the completion of the City's study; and WHEREAS, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(b), on October 15, 2025, at a duly noticed public hearing, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 1247, an Urgency Interim Ordinance valid for 45 days; and
WHEREAS, a public hearing was held on November 19, 2025 by the City Council on this urgency ordinance that extends the Urgency Interim Ordinance by a period of 22 months and 15 days, 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; WHEREAS, a Written Report was provided pursuant to Section 65858(d) of the California Government Code; and
WHEREAS, the City Council determines, by a minimum 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 extends the initial 45-day moratorium established by Ordinance No. 1247 by a period of 22 months and 15 days 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.
2 ORDINANCE NO.
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, including, but not limited to, stricter penalties for those engaged in illegal cannabis sales.
SECTION 4. City Council hereby enacts this 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 uses that may be in conflict this ordinance and the issues City Council intends to continue to study.
SECTION 5. City Council finds that this ordinance is not subject to the Calitornia 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 22 months and 15 days from the date of adoption.
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 Ordinance in accordance with Government Code section 65858 at a regular meeting of the City Council held on this 19tt day of November 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 )
1, Veronica Luna-Alvarado, City Clerk of the City of Calexico, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Urgency Ordinance was adopted by a [minimum four-fifths (4/5) vote] at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Calexico held on the 19"h day of November 2025, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
Veronica Luna-Alvarado, City Clerk