March 17, 2026
TO: City Council
REQUESTED BY: Travis Randel, Deputy City Manager, Development Services APPROVED BY: Robert A. Johnson, City Manager
SUBJECT: Approval of Professional Services Agreement with 4LEAF, Inc. for OnCall Cannabis Regulatory Permit RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve a Professional Services Agreement with 4LEAF, Inc. for on-call cannabis regulatory permit application review services in an amount not to exceed $100,000, substantially as presented and subject to review and approval as to form by the City Attorney, and,
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement.
DISCUSSION:
In 2019, the City Council approved Planning Project P19-005, a comprehensive update to the City’s regulatory framework governing Cannabis Oriented Businesses. That action established the legal structure for cannabis businesses within the City and required that retail dispensaries and microbusinesses that include retail sales obtain a passing score through a merit-based evaluation process as part of the Regulatory Permit review.
In January 2020, the City Council approved a Professional Services Agreement with HdL Companies to assist the City with developing the detailed evaluation criteria and procedures used to score cannabis retail business applications. On June 2, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 3805 establishing the Regulatory Permit Evaluation Criteria for cannabis retail businesses. The adopted framework evaluates applicants across six categories, including Business Plan, Financial Solvency, Safety and Security, Air Quality Plan, Labor and Employment, and Community Benefit, with applicants required to achieve a minimum score of seventy percent in each category to receive a passing score and advance through the regulatory permit process.
The evaluation criteria adopted by the City Council in 2020 have remained unchanged for the past six years and continues to serve as the basis for evaluating cannabis retail applications. The proposed agreement with 4LEAF does not modify the City’s cannabis regulations, the evaluation criteria, or the standards applied to applicants. The only change proposed at this time is the replacement of HdL as the third-party consultant assisting the City with the evaluation of cannabis retail applications.
HdL recently notified the City that it no longer provides cannabis application evaluation services.
As a result, staff contacted consulting firms that provide regulatory and planning services to local governments in order to identify an alternative consultant capable of performing these functions.
Through this outreach process, staff identified 4LEAF, Inc. as a firm with significant experience supporting jurisdictions with cannabis regulatory permitting programs.
Founded in 2001, 4LEAF, Inc. is a multi-disciplined consulting firm that provides planning, building and safety, code enforcement, construction management, and program management services to more than 200 public agency clients throughout the United States. In addition to these core municipal services, 4LEAF has developed specialized expertise in cannabis regulatory programs, including assisting jurisdictions with the review, evaluation, and processing of cannabis business license and regulatory permit applications.
In addition, on October 21, 2025, the City Council approved an On-Call Planning Services Consultant List for the five-year period ending June 30, 2030. That list was established through a competitive Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process issued in June 2025, which resulted in the City receiving ten statements of qualifications from professional planning firms. Following evaluation of the submittals based on qualifications, experience, project approach, and value, the City Council approved a roster of qualified firms, including 4LEAF, Inc., to provide planning services to the City on an as-needed basis.
Because 4LEAF has already been evaluated and approved by the City Council as part of the City’s On-Call Planning Services program, staff is confident in the firm’s qualifications, experience, and ability to provide professional planning services to the City. The proposed agreement will specifically authorize 4LEAF to assist the City with cannabis retail application review services, ensuring that the City continues to utilize a qualified third-party consultant with experience in cannabis regulatory programs to support the evaluation process established by the City Council.
4LEAF’s team includes planning professionals and regulatory specialists who have direct experience working with cannabis licensing programs and evaluating applications against locally adopted criteria. The firm has supported jurisdictions with large-scale cannabis regulatory programs involving the review of hundreds of applications and coordination with local and state regulatory requirements. This experience provides the depth of knowledge necessary to evaluate complex cannabis business proposals while ensuring compliance with local ordinances, state regulations, and adopted evaluation criteria.
For smaller jurisdictions such as San Jacinto, maintaining in-house expertise on the rapidly evolving regulatory environment surrounding cannabis businesses can be challenging. Utilizing a consultant with direct experience in cannabis regulatory programs allows the City to draw upon specialized knowledge and industry familiarity while allowing City staff to continue focusing on the broad range of planning and development services required by the community.
Under the proposed agreement, 4LEAF will perform application review and evaluation services consistent with the evaluation criteria adopted by the City Council in 2020. The firm will assist the City with reviewing application materials, evaluating submissions against the adopted criteria, documenting scoring, and participating in applicant interviews or related evaluation steps when requested by staff.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The proposed Professional Services Agreement with 4LEAF, Inc. has a not-to-exceed amount of $100,000 over the five-year term of the agreement ending June 30, 2031.
Costs associated with cannabis retail application review services will be funded entirely through applicant deposits required as part of the Cannabis Oriented Business Regulatory Permit process.
Under the proposed agreement, 4LEAF will provide services on a time-and-materials basis at the direction of the City, and invoices will be paid from applicant deposits collected by the City for this purpose.
Because these services are fully recoverable from applicants, approval of the agreement is not expected to have any impact on the City’s General Fund.
ATTACHMENTS:
4 Leaf Professional Services Agreement - Cannabis Application Review 4Leaf Qualifications to Provide Cannabis Oriented Business (COB) Services to the City of San Jacinto