HESPERIA — With nearly a dozen cannabis delivery businesses currently involved in the permitting process, many in the cannabis community believe the city is using “stall tactics” to prevent them from being the first to open in the city’s green zone.
Some also believe the city of Hesperia is orchestrating a “witch hunt” of the same cannabis business owners who continue to operate “illegally” within the city limits. They also claim the city has allowed these businesses to operate unencumbered until they obtain permission to open in the green zone.
A cannabis business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed Hesperia code enforcement personnel “raided” several homes that belong to business owners looking to open in the city’s green zone.
Hesperia spokeswoman Rachel Molina denied the allegations, telling the Daily Press, “The city isn’t stalling and there is no witch hunt.”
New Natural Solutions was “found to be illegally operating out of their home” in Hesperia last month, according to Molina, who added, “The city and state have revoked their state M-Type 9 Retailer license and City Dispensary Delivery Permit.”
Located inside a 2,040-square-foot warehouse on Juniper Street and just east of the railroad tracks, New Natural Solutions was slated to open this year, the Daily Press previously reported.
New Natural Solutions owners Daniel and Lisa Johnson, who also operate as Kushman 420 Top Shelf, began using their temporary state license for New Solutions last month “on an unlawful website for Kushman 420 Top Shelf,” according to a letter from city Administrative Analyst Tina Bulgarelli to the Bureau of Cannabis Control.
The city issued the Johnsons a cease-and-desist order via email, with Bulgarelli telling the owners by phone to “immediately cease operations.”
Hesperia Code Enforcement and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department served an inspection warrant on the Johnsons’ home, where evidence of an illegal delivery dispensary was found, including product, large amounts of cash, driver instructions, delivery instructions, deliveries in progress, and their functioning website, according to Bulgarelli’s letter to the BCC.
Product and cash were seized by the Sheriff’s Department and the city, which proceeded to remove permit approval of New Natural Solutions, Bulgarelli wrote.
Lisa Johnson would not provide comment.
Businesses “operating illegally” will continue to be shuttered, as is true with all types of businesses operating outside the perimeters of the law, Molina said.
“There is currently a barbeque restaurant in plan-check; if this applicant was selling barbeque illegally out of their home, Code Enforcement would shut down the illegal operation,” Molina said.
Cannabis business owner Charlene Lundquist said the city is using “stall tactics” to keep businesses from opening in the green zone.
“Think about it, it’s almost July and we haven’t seen one delivery business open yet,” Lundquist said. “There’s some suspicious (expletive) going on in Hesperia and it stinks.”
As applicants make their way through the plan-check process, it seems that many have never gone through the process and are unfamiliar with it, which can create delays, Molina said.
“In this respect, delays can be caused by missing or incomplete information, lack of original documents submitted or lack of necessary insurance coverage,” Molina said. “It is incumbent on the cannabis dispensary applicant, just like any other business, to submit the necessary information to the city to progress through the development process.”
Delays associated with missing information or submitting plans in non-compliance with city code are caused by the applicant, not the city, Molina said.
Businesses going through the permitting process include Blaze Palm, Medical Cannabis Education Center, Green Scorpion, Hesperia Wellness, Rehab Delivery, Higher Planes Medical Group, Harvest of Hesperia, Caniliv Systems, Inc. and Flower Power, with the City’s Development Review Committee soon to discuss Higher Planes Medical Group’s possible introduction to the green zone.
Medical Cannabis Education Center Board Member and Compliance Officer Rick Casas said he’s hoping to open his delivery business sometime in July in a 3,000-square-foot suite on G Avenue between Eucalyptus and Lilac streets.
Dubbed the “first state-sanctioned” Type M-9 non-storefront medical cannabis delivery service in all of San Bernardino County, Casas said working through the permitting process was a long process, but one that will “benefit the community.”
The MCEC website welcomes visitors with the message they are a “read only” site until they begin operations. The introduction also reads, “We invite you to enter and educate yourself with the incredible benefits of medical cannabis.”
Rehab Delivery owner Kasha Herrington said she closed her delivery business at the beginning of the year to “eliminate any problems” with the city and Sheriff’s Department.
“Once the city of Hesperia approves our building permit, we’ll build our cannabis room, then we’ll apply for our state license,” Herrington said. “We’re respecting the boundaries set by the city and it’s been a long and difficult six months, but it’s worth it.”
Both Casas and Herrington praised former Mayor Russ Blewett for his support of the cannabis community and the city’s green zone, with Casas saying Blewett was “a man of his word,” and Herrington remarking, “The cannabis community owes a lot to Russ Blewett.”
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