9.10.080 Renewal of permit.
A. Renewal Application Filing Deadline. An application for renewal of a commercial cannabis operator permit shall be filed at least sixty calendar days, but not more than one hundred twenty calendar days, prior to the expiration date of the permit with the city manager or his/her designee. All commercial cannabis operator permits shall have an expiration date of June 30th of each year. If the complete application and fees are timely submitted but the city does not act to approve or reject the renewal prior to expiration, the permittee may continue to operate under the expired permit until the city approves or rejects the application for renewal.
B. Rejection of Renewal Application. An application for renewal of a commercial cannabis operator permit shall be rejected if any of the following exists:
1. The commercial cannabis operator permit is revoked at the time of the application or renewal.
2. The applicant conducted unpermitted commercial cannabis activities in the city or continued to conduct formerly permitted commercial cannabis activities after expiration of the permit, other than as expressly permitted by this section.
3. Any of the grounds for disqualification for prequalification set forth in Section 9.10.070(C), or as established by the city council, exist at the time of application for renewal, or the date of renewal.
4. The permittee fails to renew any required state of California license(s), or the state revokes or suspends the license. Revocation, termination, nonissuance or suspension of a license issued by the state of California, or any of its departments or divisions, shall immediately, concurrently revoke, terminate, or suspend, respectively, the commercial cannabis operator permit. Such automatic suspension makes it illegal for a commercial cannabis business or activity to operate within the city of San Luis Obispo until the state of California, or its respective department or division, reinstates or issues the state license.
An application for renewal of a commercial cannabis operator permit may be denied if any of the following exists:
1. The application is filed less than sixty days before its expiration.
2. The applicant has received an administrative citation for violating any provision of this code relating to its commercial cannabis activity(ies) in the city during the last twelve months, and the administrative citation has not been resolved in the applicant’s favor by the date of application for renewal. A pending, unresolved appeal of an administrative citation shall not result in rejection of an otherwise timely and complete application, but resolution of an appeal in a manner that upholds the violation against the applicant during the application review period shall result in the immediate rejection of the application.
3. The commercial cannabis business has not been in regular and continuous operation in the three months immediately prior to the renewal application.
4. The commercial cannabis business fails to conform to the requirements of this chapter, any regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter, or the conditions imposed as part of any use permit or zoning requirements under Section 17.86.080.
5. The commercial cannabis operator permit is suspended at the time of application or renewal.
C. Effect of Rejection of Application for Renewal—Operations to Cease Pending Appeals. If a renewal application is rejected, the commercial cannabis operator permit expires on the expiration date set forth in the permit, even if an appeal has been filed. All commercial cannabis activities in the city under the expired permit must stop until all appeals have been exhausted. A person or entity whose renewal application is rejected, and who loses his/her/its appeal, must go through the annual commercial cannabis business operator permit application process. (Ord. 1691 § 1, 2021; Ord. 1647 § 4 (Exh. A (part)), 2018)