No business operation plans have been approved yet.
The city of Sacramento has approved its first marijuana grow permits for commercial operations.
KCRA 3 Investigates discovered six conditional-use permits have been approved by the city’s zoning administrator following hearings in August.
Three more properties are awaiting a final decision from the administrator and dozens more are awaiting hearing dates.
More than 60 property owners submitted applications for the ability to grow marijuana plants in warehouses and facilities within sections of the city zoned for light industrial use since the beginning of the year.
The permit is the first of a two-part process to begin operations. Business owners still have to get business operation plans approved by the city before they can legally start growing cannabis commercially in the city. No business operation plans have been approved yet.
Other small business owners have complained the city’s pot permit process has driven up commercial real estate rates and is forcing businesses with expiring leases to look for other locations, some outside city limits.
Brian Bendix and his family run American Stripping Company in Sacramento. For three decades , they’ve put new finishes on cars and boats. But the arrival of marijuana cultivation has put them in a bind.
“It’s just not pretty out there right now,” Bendix said.
He said the influx of marijuana money is taking its toll on other businesses.
“They can’t put it in a bank and so they are coming down here to the new frontier and pushing us out,” he said.
The city of Sacramento opted not to put caps on the number of conditional-use permits it approves for marijuana cultivation.
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