Five new Fresno cannabis licenses now under appeal. Which shops are in jeopardy?

A month ago, Fresno awarded preliminary licenses to 21 retail cannabis businesses, bringing the city within months of having legal weed available in stores.

The city anticipates store openings 75 business days or more from the time the businesses file a complete condition use permit application. A timeline from the city has put that as soon as December, but it could be longer for five of those those licenses, which are now under appeal, pending a vote by the city council.

A special meeting has been set for 9 a.m. Oct. 27, according to the city.

The city’s appeals process was narrow in scope. Requests to reject a license could be made only by the mayor or a councilmember; the licensees could also file an appeal, but based only on the conditions of the license, such as use permits.

Fresno remains the largest city in California without recreational, brick-and-mortar pot shops and one of the last open territories in what has become an emerging market, despite the fact that cannabis has been legal for medical purposes in the state since the passage or Prop. 215 in 1996 and for recreational purposes since Prop. 64 passed in 2016.

An original timeline from the city called for medical marijuana sales by 2019 and recreational sales by January 2020, but the application process didn’t begin in earnest until that year.

That process awarded each of the city’s seven council districts three retail cannabis licenses.

Councilmembers Esmeralda Soria and Miguel Arias appealed two of those three licenses, according to Sontaya Rose, the city’s director of communications.

Both filed the requests “to allow for public participation in the awarding process.”

Lemonnade, Artist Tree dispensaries under appeal

Included in the District 1 appeals are two Tower District spots: the Lemonnade-branded store, set to open at 1264 N. Wishon Ave. (inside the old Bank of America branch), and The Artist Tree art dispensary at 1426 N. Van Ness Ave. (formerly Audie’s Oympic Tavern aka Club Fred).

Arias appealed licenses for two locations along Olive Avenue in District 3: at 335 W. Olive Ave. (just east of Fruit Avenue) and 1220 E. Olive Ave. (near San Pablo Avenue).

In District 2, which includes northwest Fresno, councilmember Mike Karbassi filed an appeal against the Cookies-brand store on Blackstone Avenue, which would be built on the lot that used to be Toledo’s restaurant.

The appeal was filed because the business was in “close proximity to a school,” Rose says.

Pinedale Elementary School is just south of the store off Blackstone Avenue. At issue is whether the two locations fall within the 800-foot buffer rule set by the city.

Messages to Soria and Arias for comment were not immediately returned.

Karabssi told The Bee he could not comment on the matter until it comes before the council.

Ruling is final

An appeal must receive a majority vote from council to pass and would constitute a final ruling, Rose says.

If an application is rejected, the license would likely be rewarded to an existing applicant, at the discretion of the city manger, she says.

Kacey Auston-Tibbetts, who owns shares in both the Lemonnade and Cookies stores, says this is just another step in the process and shouldn’t delay openings much.

She is not worried about the licenses being rejected. Her team, she says, followed the city’s process “to the letter” and had the two highest scores of all the applicants.

“They have questions, and we will answer them. We will address every question and concern that the council has and let the process play out,” Auston-Tibbetts says.

The special meeting will be open to the public. Council chambers are open to the public, but residents are encouraged to participate electronically due to reduced capacity. You can register online.