§ 5.90.070. Priority of medical marijuana dispensaries.

A Medical Marijuana Dispensary Applicant that: (1) was successful in the September 2010 permit lottery conducted by the City of Long Beach under former Chapter 5.87; (2) was allowed by the City Council to operate after February 14, 2012 pursuant to section 5.89.055 of this Chapter; and (3) no longer has the right to occupy the same location that it had occupied on February 14, 2012, shall have the priority right to apply for a Medical Marijuana Dispensary Business License Permit. The City Manager shall verify, within two business days of a request, whether the Applicant qualifies for such priority and, if so, shall issue a letter to potential landlords stating that the Applicant has priority for a license to operate a Medical Marijuana Dispensary in the City of Long Beach.

Medical Marijuana Dispensary Applicants that: (1) were successful in the September 2010 permit lottery conducted by the City of Long Beach under former Chapter 5.87; and (2) were allowed by the City Council to operate after February 14, 2012 pursuant to former section 5.89.055 of this Chapter; and (3) have the right to occupy the same location(s) that it had occupied on February 14, 2012 ("Priority Group 1" applicants), and Applicants issued a landlord letter pursuant to this Section ("Priority Group 2" applicants), who timely submit qualifying applications, shall be given priority over all other applicants for License Permit approval.

Applicants entitled to a license permit or to priority under this subsection shall submit an application to the City Manager no later than six months after the City first accepts applications for Medical Marijuana Dispensary Business License Permits, or shall lose the entitlement or priority under this subsection. Priority Group 1 applicants shall be awarded available Dispensary Business License Permits first, upon determination that such application is complete. Priority Group 2 applicants shall be awarded available Dispensary Business License Permits next. All other applicants will next be evaluated for priority based on criteria set forth in a Priority Point System established pursuant to this Section.

All applications evaluated under the Priority Point System will be ranked from the most to the least points. Applicants for any available Medical Marijuana Business License Permit shall be awarded License Permits based upon this ranking using the following procedure, with eligibility reassessed after each License Permit is awarded: (1) Remaining eligible Applicants with the most number of points pursuant to this Section in descending order from highest points to lowest points until all available License Permits are awarded; (2) If there are two or more eligible applicants with the same number of points those applicants shall be grouped together and, if there are more eligible applicants in this group than the remaining number of available License Permits, the City of Long Beach shall utilize a public lottery to determine which applicant(s) is/are awarded a License Permit; (3) If there are more available license permits than eligible applicants for this group, but two or more applicants are within one-thousand (1,000) feet of each other, the City of Long Beach shall utilize a public lottery to determine which applicant is awarded a License Permit; (4) If, after this public lottery the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of available License Permits to be awarded, the process shall be repeated until all available License Permits are awarded.

The criteria for Point System shall be as follows:

Suitability of the proposed property: (i) Applicant demonstrates proposed location exceeds all buffer zones established in this Chapter by at least five hundred feet (500') (1 point); (ii) Proposed property possesses air scrubbers or a filtration system capable of eliminating odors from escaping the building or commitment to do so before operating (1 point); (iii) Proposed property is located within one thousand feet (1,000') of a public transportation hub, stop, or station (1 point).

Suitability of security plan: (i) The Applicant's security plan includes the presence of security personnel on premises or patrolling the premises twenty-four (24) hours per day (1 point); (ii) The Applicant's security plan demonstrates a method to track and monitor inventory so as to prevent theft or diversion of marijuana (1 point); (iii) The Applicant's security plan describes the enclosed, locked facility that will be used to secure or store marijuana when the location is both open and closed for business, and the steps taken to ensure marijuana is not visible to the public (1 point); (iv) The Applicant's security plan includes measures to prevent the diversion of marijuana to persons under the age of eighteen (18) (1 point); (v) Applicant demonstrates security measures exceeding the requirements of this Chapter, including but not limited to brick or concrete construction or additional fire and/or security alarms (1 point);

Suitability of business plan and financial record keeping: (i) The Applicant describes a staffing plan that will provide and ensure safe dispensing, adequate security, theft prevention, and the maintenance of confidential information (1 point); (ii) Applicant provides an operations manual that demonstrates compliance with this Chapter (1 point);

Criminal history: (i) No Management Employee of an applicant has any felony convictions (1 point); (ii) Applicants without any pending criminal complaint(s) (1 point); (iii) The applicant certifies, as a condition of maintaining the business license permit, that it will not employ any person with any type of violent or serious felony conviction(s) as specified in Sections 667.5 and 1192.7 of the Penal Code or any felony conviction involving fraud, deceit or embezzlement (1 point); (iv) Applicants certify as a condition of maintaining the business license permit that they will not employ as managers or employees any person with any narcotic drug related misdemeanor conviction (1 point);

Regulatory compliance history: (i) Applicants have not had a permit or license revoked by the City of Long Beach (1 point); (ii) Applicants have not had administrative penalties assessed against their business (1 point); Applicants who had administrative penalties assessed against their business while Chapter 5.87 was effective (-1 point); Community service: Applicants demonstrate involvement in the community, other non-profit association, or neighborhood association (1 point);

Labor Relations: (i) Applicant is party to a labor peace agreement or collective bargaining agreement with a bona fide labor organization (1 point;) (ii) Applicant pays a living wage (at least two hundred percent (200%) of the Federal Poverty Level for a family of two) (1 point); (iii) Applicant provides employer-paid health insurance benefits for its employees (1 point); (iv) Applicant provides equipment, standards and procedures for the safe operation of its facilities and engages employees on best practices (1 point); (v) Applicant provides training and educational opportunities for employee development (1 point); (vi) Applicant or entity has no previous record of violating federal or state laws relating to workplace safety, wages and compensation, discrimination, or union activity (1 point).

( Measure MM § 4, 11-8-2016)