Five Fresno cannabis licenses were under appeal. See which shop made it through

The Fresno City Council on Wednesday denied three cannabis licenses and declined to vote on one appeal — effectively revoking the license.

That means out of the five appeals on the table, only one dispensary will be allowed to open. They were among 21 that received initial approval in September.

The Lemonnade-branded store set to open at 1264 N. Wishon Ave. inside the old Bank of America branch was the only cannabis dispensary to successfully overcome the appeal process.

The city manager can choose to reward the licenses that were denied. Those will be chosen from the existing applicants and will have to go through the same appeals process. The denied applicants also can reapply for licenses at the end of the year.

At the end of the special meeting, Councilmember Miguel Arias had a message for Mayor Jerry Dyer’s administration, the government entity in charge of approving licenses.

“I hope that the administrative team got the message very clearly that they should not be bringing forward proposals that don’t meet the values of this council,” he said. “Location matters. Resident support matters. Proximity to schools, parks and community centers matter.”

Arias urged City Manager Thomas Esqueda to remember the council’s values — protecting residential neighborhoods, parks, schools and community centers — when scoring the next round of applications, rather than prioritizing business interests that build revenue for the city.

Denied licenses

In District 1, appeals were filed for two Tower District spots: the Lemonnade-branded store and The Artist Tree art dispensary at 1426 N. Van Ness Ave. (formerly Audie’s Oympic Tavern aka Club Fred). There was no action taken for the Artist Tree’s license, meaning the appeal was upheld.

In District 3, two locations along Olive Avenue were appealed: at 335 W. Olive Ave. (just east of Fruit Avenue) and 1220 E. Olive Ave. (near San Pablo Avenue). Each of those permits were denied. Arias, who represents the area, said hundreds of residents opposed the storefronts opening in their neighborhoods.

District 2 Councilmember Mike Karbassi filed an appeal against the Cookies-brand store on Blackstone Avenue in northwest Fresno, 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 Pinedale Elementary School just south off Blackstone Avenue. At issue was whether the location fell within the 800-foot buffer rule set by the city.

Problematic process?

During the meeting’s public comment period, several people, including long-time advocates for cannabis in Fresno, spoke about perceived discrepancies in the city’s licensing process, particularly as it related to social equity.

Four of the city’s cannabis licenses were awarded to social equity applicants.

Several members of the Tower District, including business owners and the executive director of the marketing committee, spoke out in support of the applicants, especially the Lemonnade location inside the old Bank of America branch. They cited increased safety, economic development and the revitalization of blighted buildings as reasons why the council should award the licenses.

Each applicant was then given 10 minutes to explain their applications before taking questions from members of the council. The applicants laid out safety and working conditions.

Councilmember Esmeralda Soria, who represents District 1, used the time as a platform to push for social equity within the cannabis industry, and questioned the faces of cannabis in the room.

Councilmember Garry Bredefeld also used his time to criticize the licensing process and implied the council was strong-arming the applicants into working with unions.

Bredefeld, who did not appeal any of three applications in his district, expressed his support for the Artist Tree, but wouldn’t go as far as to approve the license. He did say he thought the company was treated poorly in the meeting and likened it to the treatment experienced by Club One Casino back in August.

Bredefeld said he thought it was worthwhile to scrap the entire process and start from scratch.

Arias said he’d rather not have a five-hour meeting for the appeal process, but it was necessary because councilmembers hadn’t previously seen applications or talked to the applicants before licenses were awarded.

“We’re here because this is the process we set up,” he said.