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a. Application. Applications for regulatory permits shall be filed by the proposed business owner(s) with the City Manager or designee and include the information set forth herein. The City Manager or designee may request such information he or she deems necessary to determine who the applicant is. The applicant shall certify under penalty of perjury that all of the information contained in the application is true and correct. The application shall contain the following items for the business owner, operator and all responsible parties known at the time (if different than the business owner), and any other party designated below, to the extent the same shall apply:

1. The full name, present address, and telephone number, including such information of the premises owner.

2. Date of birth.

3. Tax identification number.

4. The address to which notices relating to the application are to be mailed.

5. Previous addresses for the five (5) years immediately preceding the present.

6. The height, weight, color of eyes and hair.

7. Photographs for identification purposes (photographs shall be taken by the Police Department or provide two (2) passport quality photos).

8. All business, occupation, or employment for the five (5) years immediately preceding the date of submittal of the application form.

9. The cannabis operation business history, including whether the business owner and responsible parties while previously operating in this or another city, county or state has had a cannabis-related license revoked or suspended, the reason therefor, and the business or activity or occupation subsequent to such action of suspension or revocation.

10. Complete property ownership and lease details, where applicable. If the business owner is not the premises owner, the application form must be accompanied with a notarized acknowledgment from the premises owner that cannabis operations will occur on its property.

11. A descriptive business plan for the cannabis operation, including a detailed list of all cannabis business operations and activities proposed to occur on the premises.

12. A diagram and floor plan of the entire premises, denoting all the use of areas proposed for cannabis operations, including, but necessarily limited to, cultivation, processing, testing, transportation, deliveries, and storage. The diagram and floor plan need not be prepared by a licensed professional, but must be drawn to a designated scale or drawn with marked dimensions of the interior of the premises to an accuracy of plus or minus six (6") inches.

13. The name or names of the operator. The operator shall designate one (1) or more responsible parties, one (1) of which shall at all times be available as a point of contact for the City, twenty-four (24) hours per day. The contact information and schedule of the operator and responsible parties shall be provided to the City Manager or designee and updated within twenty-four (24) hours of any changes.

14. The proposed security arrangements for ensuring the safety of persons and to protect the premises from theft.

15. An accurate straight-line drawing prepared within thirty (30) days prior to the application depicting the building and the portion thereof to be occupied by the cannabis operation and the property line of any school as set forth in the operational requirements.

16. Authorization for the City, its agents and employees to seek verification of the information submitted.

b. Improper or Incomplete Application. If the applicant has completed the application improperly, or if the application is incomplete, the City Manager or designee shall, within thirty (30) days of receipt of the original application, notify the applicant of such fact.

c. Changes in Information. Except as may otherwise be provided, the information provided in this subsection shall be updated to the City Manager or designee upon any change within ten (10) days.

d. Other Permits or Licenses. The fact that an applicant possesses other types of State or City permits or licenses does not exempt the applicant from the requirement of obtaining a regulatory permit.

e. Term of Permits and Renewals. Regulatory permits issued under this section shall expire one (1) year following the date of issuance. Applications for renewal shall be made at least forty-five (45) days prior to the expiration date of the permit and shall be accompanied by the nonrefundable fee referenced in subsection 5-25.030a.

f. When made less than forty-five (45) days before the expiration date, the expiration of the permit will not be stayed. Applications for renewal shall be acted on similar to applications for permits except that the City Manager or designee shall renew annual permits for additional one (1) year periods if the circumstances and information provided with the initial application have not materially changed.

g. Grounds for Denial of Regulatory Permit. The grounds for denial of a regulatory permit shall be one (1) or more of the following:

1. The business or conduct of the business at a particular location is prohibited by any local or State law, statute, rule or regulation.

2. The business owner or operator has been issued a local or State permit related to cannabis operations in any other location in California, or another state, and that permit was suspended or revoked, or the business owner or operator has had disciplinary action relating to the permit.

3. The business owner or operator has knowingly made a false statement of material fact or has knowingly omitted to state a material fact in the application.

4. Consistent with the Act or other applicable State law, the business owner or operator, or any responsible person, has been:

(a) Convicted of a serious or violent offense as listed under California Penal Code Sections 667.5 and 1192.7(c); or

(b) Convicted of any of the offenses listed in Business and Professions Code Section 19323; or

(c) Convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude as defined under State law (generally crimes relating to theft and dishonesty) within the five (5) years preceding the date of the application; or

(d) Convicted of a felony involving the illegal use, possession, transportation, distribution or similar activities related to controlled substances, as defined in the Federal Controlled Substances Act, unless the individual has received a certificate of rehabilitation as defined in the Act; or

(e) Has engaged in misconduct related to the qualifications, functions and duties of a permittee, such as lying on an application, falsifying legal documents, or anything that would otherwise ban the permittee from obtaining a State license under the Act.

(f) A conviction within the meaning of this subsection means a plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere.

5. Consistent with the Act or other applicable State law, the business owner or operator has engaged in unlawful, fraudulent, unfair, or deceptive business acts or practices.

6. The business owner or operator is under twenty-one (21) years of age, or any older other age set by the State.

7. The cannabis operation does not comply with the zoning ordinance standards of the City of Clearlake.

8. The required annual business license fee, annual regulatory fee or other applicable revenue raising fee has not been paid.

9. The City shall deny an application that fails to meet the requirements as set forth in this section, or for any reason set forth in Section 26057 of the California Business and Professions Code.

h. Notice of Decision and Final Action. Action on the regulatory permit shall be as follows:

1. The City Manager or designee shall cause a written notice of his or her recommendation on the issuance or denial of a regulatory permit, and the date and time when the Planning Commission will consider action on the regulatory permit, to be personally delivered or mailed to the applicant by certified U.S. mail, postage prepaid.

2. Following a public hearing before the Planning Commission, the Commission may grant the regulatory permit subject to such conditions as it deems reasonable under the circumstances to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the community, or it may deny the issuance of the regulatory permit for any of the grounds specified in this section. The decision of the Commission may be appealed to the City Council following the procedures set forth in Article 18-36.

i. Suspension and Revocation of Regulatory Permit.

1. Regulatory Permit. The City Manager may suspend or revoke the regulatory permit of a commercial cannabis operation when any of the following occur:

(a) The cannabis operation is conducted in violation of any provision of this section, the Act, or any other applicable State law.

(b) The cannabis operation is conducted in such a manner as to create a public or private nuisance.

(c) A failure to pay the regulatory fee required by this section.

(d) A failure to take reasonable measures to control patron conduct, where applicable, resulting in disturbances, vandalism, or crowd control problems occurring inside or outside the premises, traffic control problems, or obstruction of the operation of another business.

(e) A failure to comply with the terms and conditions of the regulatory permit or any cannabis business special use permit issued in connection therewith.

(f) Any act which would be considered grounds for denial of the regulatory permit in the first instance.

2. Procedure for Suspending or Revoking Regulatory Permits. The City shall provide notice to a permittee when the City Manager intends to suspend or revoke a regulatory permit. Such notice shall be served no less than twenty-one (21) days before the effective date of the suspension or revocation. The notice shall contain a brief statement of the grounds for revoking or suspending the regulatory permit. Notice may be given either by personal delivery to the permittee (in which case, service shall have deemed to have been effected upon delivery of the notice), or by certified U.S. mail in a sealed envelope, postage prepaid, return receipt requested addressed to permittee at the address appearing on his/her regulatory permit application (in which case, service shall be deemed to have been effected on the date the receipt indicates delivery was accomplished).

The notice shall advise the permittee of their right to contest the proposed action pursuant to Section 5-25.210. A request for an appeal hearing shall be submitted and received by the City no later than the effective date of the suspension or revocation. Upon receipt of the request, the City will stay the proposed action, pending a hearing. Failure to submit a timely appeal hearing shall constitute a waiver of appeal rights by the permittee.

The above procedures shall not apply to an immediate suspension or revocation pursuant to this subsection; however, the notice shall include the basis for the action, appeal rights, and be served in the manner described above. An appeal of an immediate suspension or revocation shall not stay the action; however, the City shall hold a hearing within seven (7) days of receipt of the appeal hearing, not including holidays.

3. Immediate Suspension. The City Manager or designee may immediately suspend or revoke a regulatory permit without notice or a hearing, subject to the appeal rights set forth herein, under either of the following circumstances:

(a) The business owner or operator is convicted of a public offense in any court for the violation of any law which relates to the cannabis operation.

(b) The City Manager or designee determines that immediate suspension is necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the community. The City Manager or designee shall articulate the grounds for the immediate suspension in writing and the suspension shall only be for as long as necessary to address the circumstances which led to the immediate suspension.

j. Effect of Denial or Revocation. When the City Council shall have denied a regulatory permit, or the City Manager revoked a regulatory permit, no new application for a regulatory permit shall be accepted and no regulatory permit shall be issued to such person or to any corporation in which he or she shall have any beneficial interest for a period of one (1) year after the action denying or revoking the regulatory permit.

k. Abandonment. In addition to the suspension or revocation of a regulatory permit, a regulatory permit shall be deemed abandoned if cannabis operations cease for a period of more than ninety (90) consecutive days. Before restarting operations, a new regulatory permit shall be secured. The ninety (90) day period shall be tolled during periods of force majeure, which shall be defined as follows: war; insurrection; strikes; lock outs; riots; floods; earthquakes; fires; casualties; supernatural causes; acts of the “public enemy”; epidemics; quarantine restrictions; freight embargoes; lack of transportation; unusually severe weather; inability to secure necessary labor, materials or tools; delays of any contractor, subcontractor or supplier; or any other causes beyond the reasonable control of the permittee. (Ord. #229-2019, S5 (Exh. B); Ord. #240-2020, S3 - S5)