Grand Terrace considers pot trade

Voters would decide on any proposals to allow businesses, leaders say

Grand Terrace leaders are open to asking voters whether they want to allow certain commercial cannabis businesses to operate in town.

In the coming months, the City Council will explore what sort of establishments make the most sense for the city, where they would go and how to tax them.

Any decisions would then be posed to voters for approval.

Mayor Darcy McNaboe and councilmembers Sylvia Robles and Jeff Allen favored having a workshop at a later date to discuss the particulars.

Council members Doug Wilson and Bill Hussey opposed.

“I think we got enough [cannabis shops] around us,” Hussey said at the May 10 council meeting. “I’m not sure why we’re entertaining putting them here. I don’t see a cannabis dispensary being good in Grand Terrace.”

While retail establishments may not fit in Grand Terrace, businesses that keep cannabis activity out of public view may, Allen said. Cultivation, manufacturing and testing are operations that tend to be conducted behind closed doors, creating jobs and raising tax revenue, Allen added.

“There’s an opportunity for us to take advantage of this without the disadvantages of it,” he said. Robles agreed.

“I’m in for something like this being on the ballot,” she said, “but we need to know what some of the benefits will be.”

Wilson, meanwhile, found no merit in entertaining the idea.

“The collateral damage of intoxicants, whether it’s legal or illegal, outgrows any considerations for even the immediate situation,” he said. “My own personal opinion is vehemently against anything in relation to intoxicants. But beyond my own personal feeling, I think I have good experience in relation to whether any good fruit can come from further intoxicants, and I don’t believe so.”