Cannabis Policy
Proposed Code Amendments
Rules Committee meeting
July 22, 2026
1 CITY COUNCIL PRIORITY
Slide 2
PREVIOUS COUNCIL & COUNCIL COMMITTEE ACTIONS
May 19, 2025
Council awards 4th operating permit and directs staff to bring to Rules Committee a potential expansion of the number of licenses and the related process for awarding them and to treat other dispensary operators comparably June-December 2025
Rules Committee deliberates on potential code changes
December 10, 2025
Rules Committee directs staff to advance the project forward for full City Council consideration March 9, 2026
Council considers Rules Committee recommendations and directs staff to send topic back to Rules Committee for further discussion and direction
April 22, 2026
Item agendized at Rules Committee meeting; Committee continues the topic to May 27, 2026 meeting May 27, 2026
Rules Committee re-considers topic. Directs staff to:
• Share youth center definitions from other jurisdictions • Provide legal analysis regarding potentially limiting cannabis permit awards to only City Council districts 3 &5. • Remove downtown from consideration in potential cannabis expansion areas Slide 3 3/9 CITY COUNCIL TAKE-AWAYS
Council consensus:
• Supported allowing for the issuance of two additional cannabis operating permits (for a total of 6) • Supported allowing setback modifications to account for physical barriers, such as freeways or waterways Council lack of consensus:
• sensitive use distancing requirements
• modified zoning districts
• cannabis retail downtown
Slide 4
12/10/25 RULES COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
Slide 5
• Codify clearer definition of Youth Center, mirroring City of Alameda.
Sample DRAFT definition:
"Youth centers" means any public or private facility that is exclusively used to host recreational or social activities for minors (under eighteen (18) years of age), such as, private youth membership organizations or clubs, social service teenage club facilities, or amusement facilities. "Youth centers" does not include any building, location, or facility where any programs, activities, or services: (a) are offered at private residences, (b) involve martial arts/combat sports, cultural or similar education, or physical fitness, or (c) are offered for fewer than five hours per day each day the building, location, or facility is open. Notwithstanding the foregoing, youth centers shall also mean any facility determined by the Recreation and Parks Department to be a recreation center in a city park.”
YOUTH CENTER DEFINITIONS
Slide 6
• Overview of Youth Center definitions from other East Bay jurisdictions • See summary attached to today’s agenda file
• Key take-away:
• Most definitions are broad and provide less proscriptive clarity as compared to recommended City of Alameda definition
LEGAL ANALYSIS REGARDING COUNCIL DISTRICT PRIORITIZATION Slide 7
• The City already regulates dispensaries under the Municipal Code and the Zoning Code. • Significant findings would be required to demonstrate the rationale and basis for using political boundaries rather than traditional zoning districts. • Without findings to establish the nexus between the district boundaries and the impacts of the dispensaries, the City would be vulnerable to claims to overturn the ordinance based on claims that the regulation violated equal protection or was inconsistent with land use regulations.
• Recommendation: Discuss further amendments regarding where dispensaries can be located through the Municipal Code or Zoning Code framework, as opposed to pursuing a regulation based on council districts.
REGIONAL CONTEXT &
STAFF
RECOMMENDATION
Slide 10
San Leandro Zoning Districts that allow
a Cannabis Dispensary with a CUP:
Industrial Zones
• IG - Industrial General
• IG (AU) – Industrial General
(Assembly Overlay)
• IP - Industrial Park
• IT - Industrial Transition
Commercial Zones
• CC - Commercial Community
EXISTING MAP VS. RECOMMENDED MAP COMPARISON*
*viability could be further impacted by individual site constraints; excludes youth center overlay Slide 11
COMMITTEE DIRECTION NEEDED
Slide 13
Rules Committee provide direction to staff on the following:
• Sensitive use distancing requirements
• Youth center definition
• Modified zoning districts
• Council district prioritization