Washington has been inching toward looser federal cannabis policy for a while. As federal officials moved to loosen marijuana rules, West Hollywood had its own debate on the books: the West Hollywood cannabis patrol requirement, and what happens when the City decides to take it off existing licenses.
The City removed the neighborhood patrol requirement from the code, and the Business License Commission voted to take it out of existing license conditions, while keeping the option to require patrols case by case for current or future licensees if public safety issues arise. Some of the pushback around the item wasn’t necessarily about patrols. It was about the path the issue took through City Hall, and why the commission was being asked to act after City Council had already voted.
In an email shared with WEHOonline, one resident urged commissioners to be more proactive, and not drift into “rubber stamping” or “memorializing” decisions after the fact. They noted that while the commission may have only met a handful of times this year, the point was timing. The patrol requirement was already being discussed back in March, then it moved to City Council in July and October. The commission, they argued, should have had the item in front of it earlier than December.
We reviewed the Staff report timeline and found on March 10, Emerald Village West Hollywood, (a local coalition of cannabis sellers), sent a letter to the City Manager titled “State of the Cannabis Industry.” Among other requests, the group asked the City to consider non-enforcement or repeal of the patrol requirement, citing the economic climate for cannabis businesses in West Hollywood. City Council took up the request in July, directing staff to amend the code to remove the requirement that cannabis licensees provide hourly neighborhood security guard patrols within a two-block radius around the business, during all hours of operation. Ordinance 25-23 was introduced in October with a unanimous vote, then adopted Oct. 20. The ordinance amended Chapter 5.70 and eliminated the roaming neighborhood security guard patrol requirement.
Other parts of the City’s cannabis licensing rules stayed in place. That’s why the item ended up back at the Business License Commission. Even after Council changed the code, the old patrol language was still sitting in the conditions of approval for existing licenses. Staff brought a resolution on Dec. 2 to strip that condition out citywide, basically to bring the licenses into line with what Council already adopted.
It’s not permanent though. The resolution leaves the commission room to require roaming patrols again for a specific business if something about that location, or its history, raises a public safety concern. The vote only removes the roaming patrol condition. The rest of the security plan stays in place, and the other license conditions stay in place. That said, the resident’s point is this is a business licensing condition, they asked, why didn’t it come to the Business License Commission in the summer, while City Council was still deciding what to do. They also asked whether the Public Safety Commission ever reviewed the change. We were unable to determine at the time this story was published. We’ll update once we confirm one way or another.
Other public comments leaned more toward neighborhood impact than cannabis economics. One wrote that their family owns property at 8200 Sunset Blvd. and 1483 Havenhurst Drive. They asked the City to keep security guards at cannabis businesses, and specifically called out Sunset Social Club at 8228 Sunset Blvd., saying the guards help keep the business and the neighborhood safe and urging the City to reconsider the removal. Another submission came in as a marked-up copy of the mailed public hearing notice, covered in handwritten notes about frustration with conditions nearby. The writer complained about what they described as years of vacancy next door and problems spilling into the area, including homelessness, defecation and drug activity, and said it has hurt their property and its value. The notice they wrote on identified Off The Charts at 8448 Santa Monica Blvd. as the cannabis business operating within 500 feet of their residence.
Worth a quick reminder, this vote doesn’t reduce the state rules cannabis shops already live under. California’s Department of Cannabis Control sets the baseline for security requirements, and they’re pretty strict. Shops have to run video surveillance, keep footage for a set period, maintain alarm systems, control access to storage and other limited areas, and keep a written security plan that can be reviewed during inspections. Cities can place additional requirements, but they can’t undermine the state minimum. And if a business falls out of compliance, it can get expensive fast, with fines, and in some cases, suspension or loss of a license. So even with the roaming patrol requirement coming off WeHo’s licenses, a robust bigger framework remains in tact.
Staff said they’ll keep checking in with cannabis businesses and Emerald Village as the City evaluates how the change works in practice.
