My guess is that prop 64 will pass by a wide margin next month. How are you voting on it?
Santa Monica has famously never had a medical marijuana dispensary but beginning last year, it looked like change was coming. A new zoning ordinance passed in 2015 finally allowed “two medical marijuana dispensaries to open within the city limits.” (The lack of dispensaries hasn’t totally stopped residents in Santa Monica from getting medical marijuana. People have long been able to drive into nearby cities, or use delivery services.)
If 64 passes, where do you think the pot shops will appear in Santa Monica? Montana Avenue? Lincoln Boulevard? Main Street? Pico?
You might be surprised to learn that only Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevard might qualify. According to the zoning code, dispensaries are limited to those 2 streets. Wilshire Boulevard between Lincoln Boulevard and Centinela Avenue; along Santa Monica Boulevard between Lincoln Boulevard and 20th Street; and along Santa Monica Boulevard between 23rd Street and Centinela Avenue. The businesses must be less than 2,500 square feet and are prohibited within 600 feet of a childcare and early education or family day care facility, park, school, library, social service center or other medical marijuana dispensary. And if you think a win for 64 means weed in the stores soon after, you may be wrong because just as it seemed like Santa Monica was gaining traction on medical marijuana, it now appears that the upcoming election and Prop 64 is actually “delaying implementation of local rules for the sale of marijuana.”
Voters over the age of 25, especially marijuana enthusiasts, probably remember the 2010 election, when a similar legalization effort, Proposition 19, was defeated. However many election experts believe that Prop 64 has a strong chance of passing this year. So what makes Prop 64 different from the failed Prop 19? What implications could a successful Prop 64 have on Santa Monica?
Prop 64 takes a more measured approach to cannabis legalization. In 2010, Prop 19 was maligned for clauses such as allowing motorists to smoke while driving, preventing employers from banning marijuana smoke breaks on the job, and not including any provisions for a state tax on the sale of cannabis. Following in the footsteps of successful legalization in Colorado and Washington state in 2012, California cannabis advocates came back in 2016 with a more balanced approach (although opponents are nonetheless still mounting a campaign against legalization).
My guess is that since 64 allows local governments to impose additional regulations and taxes on the sale and cultivation of marijuana it will be at least 5 years before pot shops open in Santa Monica.
Lawmakers must now consider new regulatory frameworks to account for non-medical marijuana businesses in the city that would likely try to open. It has been proposed that the city effectively delay approval of medical dispensaries until at least 2018, when the first licenses for cannabis businesses would be issued under Prop 64. And it remains unclear the effects that a successful Prop 64 would have on the medical marijuana industry itself, further stymieing work on opening medical dispensaries in Santa Monica. Thus, it doesn’t look like Santa Monica will be getting any marijuana businesses in the near future.
Here is your real-time 90402 MLS transaction data:
1 new listing north of Montana, 1 sale pending and 1 closed sale
319 11th Street – is 2 bedrooms, 2 baths asking $2,950,000. Great investment opportunity to renovate or build new! Bring your architect. Desirable location close to Montana Avenue. Estate/Trust sale. Last sold for $800,000 in December 2000.
Just went into escrow 10 days ago is 717 22nd Street – 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms at a reduced price of $4,595,000. This home was originally listed at $4,895,000 in May of this year. The home is now staged with designer furniture. Last sold in April 2010 for $3,300,000.
230 14th Street – Closed escrow. 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. $3,285,000.
Call me for a couple of upcoming attractions that are not yet listed in the MLS, priced from $1.9 million to $8 million. And….here are a few that we have listed in the MLS:
323 Adelaide Drive – 4 bedrooms and 6 baths $7,100,000
920 Alta Avenue – 6 bedrooms and 6.5 baths $6,595,000
416 18th Street – 5 bedrooms and 5.5 baths $4,950,000
215 21st Place – 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths $4,695,000
614 California Avenue – 4 bedrooms and 4.5 baths $3,695,000
1012 2nd Street Unit# 2 – 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths $3,488,000
