The City of Fullerton hosted a Cannabis Listening and Information Session Thursday evening at the Fullerton Public Library.

The meeting was the first of three informational meetings, with the next two taking place in March and April respectively.

This meeting was more of an open house with different sections of the room having poster boards of all the details about commercial cannabis and cannabis-related products.

The purpose of the meeting was to gather feedback from the community to report back to the City Council.

One section was dedicated to the different types of cannabis businesses such as storefront retailers and delivery services.

Another section was dedicated to the retail operational standards and the laws surrounding it such as business hours, security and age requirements.

The final section was about the zoning, separation from areas where most children are present and the maximum number of stores that the city would build if a measure were to pass.

City of Fullerton’s Community and Economic Development Director Matt Foulkes addressed the attendees to start the meeting.

He gave an overview of the cannabis laws at the state level followed by the current laws Fullerton has in place regarding cannabis.

The City Council adopted an Ordinance Amendment to prohibit marijuana-related uses and/or activities citywide in December of 2017. This includes dispensaries, manufacturing, testing, delivery and cultivation.

At a City Council meeting last October, the City Council approved a Resolution of Intention declaring the City’s intent to consider amendments to the Fullerton Municipal Code regarding cannabis regulations.

The City Council directed city staff to conduct community outreach and engagement on this topic and return to in March with recommendations for commercial cannabis regulations in the City.

The meeting did not guarantee whether cannabis related activities will become legal or not. Foulkes told those who attended that the meeting was merely “the first step” of the process.

However as far as a timeline of when to expect a decision to be made Foulkes said, “If we do a ballot measure it’s going to be in November of this year if we don’t do a ballot measure we would still look to probably make a decision by the end of the year.”

For those who would like to know more information about the next meeting or any of the cannabis-related topics mentioned at this meeting please visit the City of Fullerton’s website.