Historic night ahead as Lemoore City Council considers appointment, reorganizes, and considers cannabis retailer

By The Leader Staff
Historic night ahead as Lemoore City Council considers appointment, reorganizes, and considers cannabis retailer

Tuesday night’s council meeting (Aug. 20) could be a groundbreaking night for the city of Lemoore. For starters, the four council members, including newcomer Chris Schalde, will endeavor to appoint a fifth council member and then consider awarding at least two downtown cannabis dispensaries.

Council members were expected to select and swear in two new members at the council’s Aug. 6 meeting, but the council’s selection, Hugh Allen – coming after nearly every other applicant was dismissed – wound up declining the appointment, forcing council members to continue the process.

The council will again consider all those applicants who initially filed for the District E seat, but the decision won’t come until the end of the meeting.

At that point, a full council is scheduled to reorganize, meaning a full complement of council members may change direction, appointing both a new mayor and mayor pro-tem.

Once the new council member selected, a newly reconstituted council may decide on the fate of at least two downtown cannabis dispensaries, the result of a new city ordinance allowing at least two marijuana dispensaries downtown.

The cannabis applicants expressing interest include the following businesses:  Cannatopia, Element 7, Humanity, Natural Healing Center, Valley Pure, and Wellsona.

The best-known applicant is probably Valley Pure, one of the first dispensaries in the Valley. Valley Pure currently operates a dispensary in Woodlake. Each of the applicants has its eye on several existing downtown businesses.

Valley Pure is already taking early steps to operate in Lemoore. It has an item on the consent calendar to lease the city’s train depot which it no doubt intends to use as a dispensary. According to the city’s regulations regarding dispensaries, no more than one dispensary may be permitted for every 12,000 residents, limiting the recreational cannabis sales in Lemoore to two dispensaries.

Historic night ahead as Lemoore City Council considers appointment, reorganizes, and considers cannabis retailer

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