Council to act on third cannabis dispensary
Bloom Farms threatening legal action
The Porterville City Council is expected to approve a process to begin accepting applications for a third cannabis dispensary in the city.
And Bloom Farms is threatening legal action based on how the process is expected to proceed.
As part of its consent calendar during its meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the council will consider to authorize the Request For Proposal process to accept applicants for the dispensary. The city would then begin to accept applications for the dispensary on January 3.
That would then begin the selection process in which an applicant for the dispensary could be selected in the spring, which would lead to the process of the council approving an ordinance and building permits to be issued for the dispensary to be developed.
If the council takes the action to open up the application process for the third dispensary, Bloom Farms stated it would take legal action. In a statement on what it would do if the council opens up the application process, Bloom Farms said, “We will be filing a lawsuit with the city real shortly.”
Bloom Farms also stated “the last thing” it wants is litigation, but added if the city proceeds with the application process, “we will be seeking damages from the city.”
The third dispensary will be awarded to a “wholly-locally owned” business. The city has defined “wholly-locally owned” as someone who has resided or owned a business in the Porterville Urban Area Boundary for at least three years. And all the owners of the dispensary must have lived or had a business in Porterville for at least three years.
That was an issue with the first two dispensaries that were awarded to Cannabis Culture Club and Haven. While those businesses have local owners they also have owners from Southern California. Those two dispensaries are currently going through the building permit process to be established.
Bloom Farms stated since its the highest scoring wholly-locally owned business remaining from the first application process it should be awarded the third dispensary.
The city’s cannabis ad hoc committee did recommend to the council that it award the third dispensary to one of the two highest scoring wholly-locally owned applicants from the first application process, the Tule River Economic Development Corporation or Bloom Farms. The ad hoc committee stated “this would save the city staff time and resources.”
Bloom Farms is now the last wholly-locally owned business still interested in operating a dispensary from the first application process, so it maintains it should be awarded the third dispensary.
But the city’s staff report for the December 7 council meeting stated: “In an effort to support a “wholly-locally owned” dispensary, the Council directed that the third dispensary would be considered in a process broader than only considering the remaining applicants (Bloom Farms and TREDC)” from the first application process.