By Cannabis advocates and business owners in Las Vegas are calling on city leaders to ease distance requirements between cannabis businesses, saying it will encourage the development of cannabis districts like Amsterdam. At Wednesday’s Las Vegas City Council meeting, entrepreneurs also called for lower fees for cannabis business licenses, arguing that high costs are an unjustified “obstacle” to starting new businesses.
The city council was considering a draft ordinance to regulate cannabis consumption lounges, businesses that offer cannabis for patrons to purchase and consume on their premises. In September, the council cleared the way for a cannabis lounge to open in Las Vegas.
At a conference on Wednesday, several cannabis industry advocates and business leaders addressed the council, saying a regulation requiring licensed cannabis businesses to be at least 1,000 feet apart from each other would allow entrepreneurs to keep compliant property. make it difficult to secure
Tina Ullman, Chairman and Founder of the Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, said: Said at the city council on Wednesday. “Why do you want them to do it in the consumption areas?”
Five licensed cannabis dispensaries in Las Vegas are planning to open cannabis consumption lounges as part of their business. Another 10 companies operate consumption lounges independently of dispensaries, including seven Social Justice applicants who were adversely affected by marijuana bans before cannabis was legalized in Nevada in 2016. It is expected that
The proposed ordinance would allow the city to waive distance requirements between consumption lounges, although there would be no exceptions in some areas of the city, including the Symphony Park District, Las Vegas Medical District, or Casino Resort District. I’m here.
Dani Baranowski, Vice President, Cannabis Industry Association Chamber of Commerce, Said Distance requirements force applicants to “find a location that is difficult to get business, expensive, unobtrusive, and unprofitable.”
Business leaders have told the city council that if distancing requirements are lifted or relaxed, the downtown arts district could become “New Amsterdam” and serve as a cannabis tourism destination that could attract visitors from around the world. By allowing consumption lounges and other cannabis businesses to be located closer together, they also encourage walking, eliminate the temptation to drive high, and improve public safety. Said it would be profitable.
“The proposed measures have established unnecessary and harmful distance restrictions between lounges and disproportionately high licensing fees compared to other businesses.” said Chandler Cooks.
Business leaders want lower licensing fees in Las Vegas
Other business owners agreed with Cooks and called for lower license fees for cannabis consumption lounges. Applicants have paid a reduced fee of $2,500. Lounges are also required to pay an additional semi-annual license fee based on their revenue.
“Adding those high fees just adds a lot more funding to what they have to raise,” Ulman said.
Baranovsky said high licensing fees could be an “additional obstacle” to success and deter applicants struggling to raise the capital needed to get their business up and running. Stated. Paul Murad, president of Metroplex Group, a real estate firm that owns businesses in the Arts District, looks forward to working with the city council on many issues related to cannabis businesses, including reducing the cost of business licenses. said.
“We are asking for a significant reduction in licensing and ongoing licensing fees,” said Murad. “I mean, they are on par with other businesses … they need to be on the same level, not excessive just because they are cannabis.”
After hearing from business leaders, the city council has postponed voting on the proposed Cannabis Consumption Lounge Ordinance and rescheduled the agenda item for its March 1 meeting. Business leaders will spend the next two weeks working with the city council to draft an ordinance that Murad said could set Las Vegas as a “role model for other local governments to follow.”
