Sec. 7-7.11. Retail competitive application review, selection, and waitlist.
a.Applications that meet the criteria for permit approval set forth in Section 7-7.12 shall be reviewed and scored by a qualified consulting firm. The consulting firm will rank all applications and will forward up to eight (8) of the top ranked storefront cannabis retail applications, and up to three (3) of the top ranked nonstorefront retail applications (with mandatory medicinal cannabis delivery) to the Selection Committee for consideration. The Selection Committee shall be an ad hoc committee comprised of the Mayor and Vice Mayor and staffed by the City Manager or designee. The Selection Committee will select the final four (4) storefront cannabis retailers and one (1) nonstorefront retailer to recommend to the City Council for approval. The Selection Committee shall score each application based on the general criteria listed under subsection (c) of this section. The specific criteria and weighting (points per criteria) will be determined prior to the commencement of the initial screening application period and posted publicly. Each application will be independently scored by the consulting firm and the Selection Committee members utilizing a point system scale. There shall be no right to appeal the ranking and/or scoring of applications.
b. General Ranking Criteria.The objective review criteria shall include at a minimum the following elements and the City Manager may establish additional elements in their discretion to be included in the objective review criteria to select the most qualified applicants:
1.Community engagement;
2.Local business partnerships; and
3.Sustainable business practices that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The City Manager may establish additional elements in their discretion to be included in the objective review criteria to select qualified applicants.
c.The scores awarded by the Selection Committee shall be totaled and averaged for each applicant. The applicants shall then be ranked from highest to lowest based on their scores.
d.The top four (4) applicants for storefront retail, and top applicant for nonstorefront retail, based on points, or applicants applying for vacated licenses, are to be approved by the City Council pursuant to Section 7-7.12. (Ord. 3674 § 11, 2023)