Special Joint City Council and
Planning Commission Meeting
Minutes
January 24, 2023
5:00 p.m.
City of Turlock Yosemite Room
156 S. Broadway, Turlock, California
A. CALL TO ORDER –
Mayor Bublak called the City Council meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.
Chairperson Davis called the Planning Commission meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.
B. SALUTE TO THE FLAG
C. ROLL CALL:
City Clerk Christel called roll for the City Counc il:
Councilmember
Abram
Councilmember
Bixel
Councilmember
Franco
Councilmember
Monez
Mayor
Bublak
Present Present Present Present Present
PRESENT: Councilmembers Cassandra Abram, Kevin Bix el, Pam Franco, and Mayor Amy Bublak.
ABSENT: None
City Clerk Christel called roll for the Planning C ommission:
Commissioner
Anderson
Commissioner
Deol
Commissioner
Reap
Commissioner
Souza
Commissioner
Reese
Commissioner
Johnson
Chairperson
Davis
Present Present Present Present Present Present Pre sent
PRESENT: Commissioners Anderson, Deol, Reap, Souza, Reese, Johnson, and Chairperson Davis
ABSENT: None
D. DECLARATION OF CONFLICTS: City Council: None Planning Commission: None
1. CANNABIS PRESENTATION:
A. Staff presentation to City Council and Planning Commission to review, discuss and provide comments to staff regarding the City’s Cannabis Pilot Program (Petrulakis/Quintero/Moreno)
City Manager Wilson announced that due to technical difficulties with the audio and visual equipment in the Council Chambers, the PowerPoint Presentatio ns were unable to be viewed on the video screen. Copies of the presentations were handed out to members of the City Council, the Planning Commission, and members of the audience.
Finance Director Moreno, Development Services Direc tor Quintero, and City Attorney Petrulakis presented a review of the City’s Cannabis Business Pilot Program. City Attorney Petrulakis explained that the purpose of the meeting was to provide information on the history of the regulation of cannabis by the City, how the 2019 Cannabis Business Pilot P rogram (Pilot Program) was established and rolled out, review the current status and the financial impact of the program, and discuss future issues in relation to the program. He stated that the focus is on the Pilot Program as a whole and noted that there has been turn over in senior staff that worked on this program, in addition, that this was largely a program of the City Attorney’s Office (at that time ) so the presentation was recreated from documentary record.
MINUTES
Special Joint City Council and Planning Commission Meeting January 24, 2023
City Attorney Petrulakis discussed state and city milestones in cannabis regulations before the City’s Pilot Program, which began in 1996. In mid-2019 to early 2020, the City established the “Cannabis Business Pilot Program. He spoke about the change in the Turlock Municipal Code (TMC) Chapter 5- 21 that changed from prohibiting to allowing and regulating cannabis businesses, the RFQ process to select candidates to participate in the Cannabis Bu siness Pilot Program including submittal requirements and evaluation criteria, and revisions to the TMC Title 9 (Zoning Code) for the program which added definitions to the zoning code related to cannabis, the addition of Article 7 to Chapter 9-2 on cannabis business as a conditional use required via CUP, and specified which zoning districts would not allow cannabis businesses an allowable uses.
City Attorney Petrulakis also discussed development agreements and the key provisions of these agreements. He explained and reviewed the public b enefits amounts, discussed the status of dispensary development agreements, and provided a map of where the four dispensaries are located.
Finance Director Moreno spoke about the financial policies and impacts for the Cannabis Public Policy Benefit including cannabis business related expenses to the City of Turlock, unfunded liabilities and one-time capital improvements. Director Moreno reviewed the process for revenue collection and how the City Council had directed staff to establish a separate fund to account for the revenues and expenditures of cannabis businesses to provide fiscal accountability for the use of these revenues. He also reviewed authorized expenditures for “cannabis related expenses,” “unfunded liabilities,” and “one-time capital improvement projects” and provided revenues and expenditures to date.
City Attorney Petrulakis also discussed some key is sues related to the Pilot Program including whether the five (5) year program will continue or not and that this time limit depends on the anticipated 5-year terms in development agreements and the non-renewal/non-extension of those agreement, the annual review of the development agr eements, limits on signage, lost revenues because all development agreements did not start as anticipated, and unresolved issues and liability traps for the City.
He concluded his presentation and asked City Counci l and the Planning Commission for any questions they may have. Commissioner Anderson asked when the City needed to have an answer for whether or not to continue the Pilot Program. City Attorney Petrulakis stated that if the City wanted to move forward with pursuing a cannabis tax measure in 2024, we should probably have an answer sometime mid-year unless a different decision was made.
Mayor Bublak requested two members of the Planning Commission and two members of the City Council to volunteer for a Cannabis Ad-Hoc Committe e. Chairperson Davis stated that he and Commissioner Reape will serve as Ad-Hoc Committee members for the Planning Commission. She stated that all Ad-Hoc Committee meetings will be posted and noticed and members of the public will be able to attend. Any questions that members of th e public may have regarding items discussed tonight or in regards to cannabis may send an email to
[email protected] .
2. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Mayor Bublak opened public participation and the following members of the public spoke:
Jessie Hendridge
Mary Jackson
DJ Fransen
Michael Warda
Representative from Evergreen (name not given)
Name not given
Ron Bridegroom
MINUTES
Special Joint City Council and Planning Commission Meeting January 24, 2023
3. ADJOURNMENT:
Mayor Bublak adjourned the special meeting at 6:19 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED
____
Julie Christel, City Clerk