At the Nov. 17 meeting the council conducted a public hearing on annual compliance reviews for 11 cannabis development agreements. Staff recommended that five businesses be found in compliance, several others be found in partial compliance with active payment plans, and that one business be found in default.

Staff said that Tradecraft Farms (a microbusiness performing retail, cultivation and distribution) is operating at a smaller scale than originally planned but is providing public benefits (employment, sales tax and contractual payments); staff recommended working with the developer to modify the approved development plan to reflect current operations.

For a group of delivery and dispensary businesses (BBNSE, I Heart Cannabis, From the Earth/DBO Investments PH LLC, Blue Diamond LLC, Port Retail/TreeFactory), staff reported late payments or incomplete documentation of required community-benefit payments but said payment plans have been executed and first payments received; staff recommended partial-compliance findings and return to council if conditions are not met.

Front Door Enterprises (doing business as EcoMedz) has not been operating since Oct. 2024, failed to make required payments after an agreed rebranding plan, and was nonresponsive to contact from staff and the city auditor. Staff recommended finding EcoMedz out of compliance and in default and directed staff to provide written notice of intent to revoke the development agreement if default is not cured within 30 days.

Council approved staff recommendations by unanimous roll call. Staff also recommended that the compliance reviews are exempt from CEQA per California Code of Regulations §15309.

Next steps: staff will monitor payment-plan compliance and return to council if developers fail to meet the terms; for the defaulted business, written notice and potential revocation will proceed if the balance is not cured.