City Council — February 2, 2026

Everyone good evening and welcome to the City Council regular meeting today is February the 2nd I'm calling the meeting to order it is now 630 We're gonna stand please and we'll have a council member Again Great. Madam Clerk,

please call roll. Council Member Gama? Here. Council Member Perez? Here. Council Member Lopez? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Hernandez? Here and Mayor McQueen-Lajon?

Here and we're going to move to our inspiration that's going to be given by our Mayor Pro Tem Hernandez

Thank you, Mayor. It's my honor and my pleasure this evening to recognize Selena Soto who is here with her family and Aaron from the Boys & Girls Club of Oxnard and Port Hueneme. Thank you for coming out tonight. Slides are up. Let's go! It's a bright early morning on January 1st when families across the United States gather around their TVs to watch the iconic Pasadena Rose Parade This event draws a massive global audience with viewership estimates ranging from 30 to over 50 million in the United States, plus an additional 28 million internationally. That means more than 70 million people witnessed the renowned floral spectacle featuring imaginative float designs, world-class marching bands, honorable first responders Our proud military personnel, respected businesses and noble nonprofits.

In December of last year I was inspired to learn through social media that a young Latina girl from Port Hueneme had been chosen by the Port Hueneme Oxnard Boys and Girls Club to be part of this year's Rose Parade on New Year's Day. The specific float entry was built by the Boys and Girls Club of America and named Kindness is Free. Selena was one out of five young Kids from the Greater Boys and Girls Club chosen to represent the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center.

Her selection to be part of the Rose Parade was not only her personal achievements, but the positive impact she has made within and around the Port Hueneme community through her many accomplishments. Among her accomplishments were that she has been a member of the Port Hueneme Boys & Girls Club since she was seven years old. During COVID, she stood with them when they opened exclusively for the members of Bard School And she joined them there as well.

She was also ambassador for the Boys and Girls Club Kindness is Free campaign. She is a proud member of the Brent's Drug Prevention Program at the Boys and Girls Club Teen Center. It is a Robert Shapiro Foundation in honor of his son, Brent who unfortunately passed away from drug use. Robert Shapiro has many of you might recall as a former attorney was a former attorney for OJ Simpson.

Selena is a junior youth of the year for the Boys and Girls Club of Port Hueneme Teen Center. And as Councilman Gama will attest, she joins the Port Hueneme Beach cleanup on Saturdays as much as possible. I am inspired by Selena's accomplishments and to me she is a rising star born out of our community of Port Hueneme. For Selena, I believe that she has a promising and rosy future. And for this reason, she is my inspiration and hopefully an inspiration to everyone she meets along the way. So I'd like to offer a few moments to invite Councilman Gama to say a few words as well.

Yeah, as you can see Selena always has a smile on her face. And it was a number of years ago where she came out to Hueneme Beach Cleanup for the first time with her parents. Participated wholeheartedly for a number or three years maybe and then I also remember her first wetsuit and her father and I took her body surfing and surfing right? It was like it was a crazy day. It was a fun day we got sunburned And it's just such a pleasure to know the youth of our community who are doing right. And Selena is a great student, she's a great participant and she's a great softball player, pitcher. She's a great participant at the Boys & Girls Club and so I couldn't be happier.

My time for inspiration is in our next meeting I'm delighted to know that Laura picked up on your successes and on behalf of all of us we just want to say continue to do good, study hard, work hard and we look forward to seeing you into the future.

I'd like to invite you and your family to come up so we can get a picture of the presentations.

You can start right

here. Wait, okay. I just want to say thank you to Gabe for all the help that he did with my speech. I want to thank my family. I want to thank you for GAMA for writing my recommendation letter. I want to thank everyone that invited me to come here. It's an honor and I will remember this for a while, for a long time so thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

I'll just say it'd be nice to have a photo of the family, and then I see some other folks in the room from the Boys & Girls Club that you can come up as well with the family first. Yeah.

One,

two, three. One, two, three.

Congratulations.

Yes, yes. Did you all want to come? Yes. Thank

you

so much. We'll see you in high school. Do

you guys want to stand up or do you want me to get out of it? You want the picture view? Oh, are you sure? Okay. One two three.

Congratulations and I forgot to acknowledge the parents, Mona and Mr. Soto you've done such a wonderful job with her and you're just a prime example of raising this rising star here so we'll be looking forward to seeing more of her in the future thank you for all you're doing

And I just want to say one thing. It is great to see her father so excited for his daughter, and so just really appreciate all the work. It's a representation of yourselves, right? And so that's wonderful. Yeah. I love seeing you. All right, so we are now going to

Yes, and first I just wanted to note that we did receive two written comments that were posted on the website and are available outside in the public binder for your review. Council also has some in front of them and they were sent to them before this meeting. The first public comment is from Peter Dixon.

Good evening honorable mayor and council members. My name is Peter Dixon, I'm a project manager for the Nature Conservancy we are one of the Ormond Beach Project partners along with the State Coastal Conservancy in the city of Oxnard and I was coming out tonight to talk about the Ormond Beach restoration and public access project and specifically proposed pedestrian bridge that would connect Ormond Lagoon to Hueneme Beach Park.

And the Ormond Beach Project Partners have been working together since 2009, and in 2021 we presented a preliminary plan that included improvements to the Ormond Beach, the span all the way two miles of coastline between Naval Base Ventura County to Ormond Lagoon And it includes boardwalks, trails, public amenities as well as habitat restoration. The only part of the plan that touches down on the City of Port Hueneme property is this pedestrian bridge that is intended to connect Ormond Lagoon from Perkins Road to Hueneme Beach Park.

The City of Oxnard presented some details of the planned bridge in October, planning department with the city manager. At that time there was not support for the bridge element. So I wanted to request that the consideration of the pedestrian bridge be included in a future council meeting and also wanted to communicate some of our intentions around this particular element. We feel strongly that access to nature Improving public access for this community, both the City of Port Hueneme as well as the City of Oxnard is critically important and to demonstrate that at this time we've secured over $41 million to implement this investment. So right now we're at 60% design stage And we need to know if we can proceed with that particular design element in order, you know basically just to plan it and get permits.

And whether or not we build it will be up to you. It could be deferred to the future but we want to include it in the plans so that the community can see hey we want Provide access to the coast for this South Oxnard community. We want to provide these amenities not only for the City of Oxnard but for the city of Hueneme. This is about a mile of new boardwalk and trails, interpretive signage, overlooks, new trailhead features as well as increased management. A large part of the funding would go to transformational management for this area of Ormond Beach so If I could have the opportunity to present in the future, to talk about this specific design element and get you guys' attention. I sent documents by email that you guys can review with the design details so thanks for your time.

Great, thank you. I don't know if I could respond. So obviously the item's not on the agenda it's public comment so the council is not able to comment on and I can only comment briefly but I sent you an email right before the meeting I saw your comment that think there's some maybe some miscommunication or telephone going on. I actually did not meet with the planning department in October and we have not given an opinion on the project What we did do before a meeting, we had set a meeting with them and we had sent them questions that the city would have about things like access maintenance. You know all the other question cities have about projects you know is the city responsible for maintenance of the project you know etc etc.

And the City of Oxnard ended up notifying us that they did not know the answers to all those questions and agreed to basically come back to us when they had more information. So it's a little different than, I don't know where like you know the facts you said where that information came from, but it's a little different than that. We had said we were willing to meet and consider it when we get the information. We haven't gotten the information yet so I think if there is somebody in Oxnard that you're connected to and maybe can connect with the three of us and if they have the information and are ready to discuss then that could be a path forward. So all right thank you.

Great thank you

Greg Ross

Good evening, Mayor Pro Tem, esteemed council members. I've been a resident of Ventura County since 1969 57 years where does the time go? A belated Happy New Year I'm really on the cusp of whether I could be saying that because people stopped seeing it in February but I I'm thinking about The future and where we were in 2025 And what's going on with a thorny issue, if I can use that term, with the port. So I drew up this little one-page document that shows you what the positives are with our city relationship with the port and what the negatives are.

You can read it. I don't need to read it to you. The most important one on this list is highlighted in sort of a pink purple, and that is the lithium ion battery Thank you. We would get that immediately. So it's an important consideration, this little piece of paper. I hope you look at it. I've given it to the port and now I'm giving it to you. So I'm really here to talk about something that's perhaps a little difficult because it involves perhaps money But you each have this in your packet.

And I can show it to you in a bigger form, which is this. This is the parking lot right outside of the pier on Surfside. So there are no parking stops, concrete stops. So I've included it here and I'm sure the city can do better than I did but these aren't that bloody expensive But if we put these there, I'm assuming they're young people that love to do donuts in that parking lot. As you can see it's right there. They do it all the time. It usually starts around four o'clock.

I actually have a...I'm sorry to bore you with my details

but...

That's what we hear. And I'm not on the main part near Surfside. I'm back away a little bit, so that's what we hear and weekends are worse usually starts in the evening and We're asking to see if you can do something to help us with the noise and there's pollution too. I mean These these are things that go into the ocean these little bits of rubber It's not good All right. Thanks for listening

And that concludes public comment

Great, thank you. We're going to move on to the agenda approval. May I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda?

Move to approve the agenda.

Second.

May make a suggestion?

You can but I think your suggestion is number nine and it's going to be what I think you're

I was just gonna request that we're not ready to go with number nine and maybe we should pull it from the agenda.

Okay, so motion. Was there a second? Yes.

All in

favor? Aye. All opposed? Hearing none motion passes unanimously Great, thank you. So do we have any members of the council that have a conflict of interest to disclose for any agendized item? No? Okay, we're gonna move on to our presentations. Our first presentation, we're gonna welcome Coastal Keepers to the podium. And while they're making their way we're going to have Councilmember Gama is going to read the proclamation.

Yes, the proclamation is for World Wetlands Day and we know we have a lot of great activities going on here locally with Coastal Keepers, Surf Rider. And then I lead a little group called Hueneme Beach Cleanup and so our efforts have really impacted our coastal environment. So it's really my pleasure to be able to acknowledge World Wetlands Day in the effort that you and others were all put out.

Whereas World Wetlands Day is a global awareness campaign that gives a voice to wetlands around the globe. And whereas on February 2, 1971, the Convention of Wetlands was adopted as an international treaty and was the first of the modern global multilateral environmental agreements with The only one devoted to a specific ecosystem, wetlands. And whereas today the convention has a global membership of 172 countries officially known as contracting parties and whereas World Wetlands Day is celebrated every February 2nd since it was established in 1997 and whereas World Wetlands Day is supported by the United Nations where the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2021 establishing February 2nd as World Wetlands Day, inviting all 193 UN member states to observe the day and whereas the wetlands theme for 2026 is wetlands and traditional knowledge.

Celebrating cultural heritage spotlighting the timeless role of traditional and indigenous knowledge Cultural practices and community stewardship in sustaining wetland ecosystems and preserving cultural identity. And whereas wetlands sustain life, are central to human well-being and providing clean water, food security and nutritional variety, clean air medicines climate stabilization protection against extreme weather recreational opportunities jobs and positively impacts mental well-being and Whereas wetlands are the earth's most threatened ecosystem and the World Wetlands Day increases global understanding on how much wetlands do for humanity, and that we must care nurture and support them for a sustainable future. Now therefore be it proclaimed that the City Council of the city of Port Hueneme does hereby recognize February 2nd 2026 as World Wetlands Day and encourages all to value and steward our wetlands

Great, thank you. Would you

like to have a couple of words?

Go right

ahead Thank you so much. On behalf of Coastal Keepers, we are honored to accept the World Wetlands Day Proclamation from the City of Fort Hueneme. We thank Mayor, city council and staff for recognizing the importance of wetlands to our coast water quality and our community resilience. We accept this on behalf of our volunteers and partners who work to protect these vital ecosystems today and for future generations. Thank you.

We'll take a picture.

One,

two three.

Would anyone like to have any words at all? Go right ahead.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to say thank you for Coastal Keepers for being out and hosting the World Wetlands Day on Saturday. I went out there for a little while and helped pull weeds and plant seeds and pick up trash. You guys do an awesome job and I know you've been in existence now for what four years? Four or five years? And going strong so I just want to say thank you for all you do for our ocean Our beaches and our wetlands, and Adam you are a champ. I watched you pull a mattress and a shopping cart out of the lagoon or the creek and that was quite exciting so I mean you did a wonderful job. So thank you all and I enjoyed my time out there. Thank you.

Great anyone else? Thank you so much for coming out.

Just keep doing what you're doing. I think we're making a great impact and the effort is Is very well received in our community, and I know the South Oxnard community as well so thank

you We're gonna move on to our second presentation which is the Black History Month proclamation And so we're going to have Councilmember Lopez read that we don't have anyone here tonight to receive it. We'll make sure it gets somewhere Okay

So the City of Port Hueneme Proclamation, Black History Month February 2026. Whereas much of the city of Port Hueneme's honors strength and distinction can be attributed to diversity of culture and traditions that are celebrated by our residents and whereas African-Americans have played a significant role in the history of our nation and California's economic cultural spirit and political development while tirelessly working tirelessly to promote their culture and history, and where as a result of their determination, hard work, and perseverance African-Americans have made a valuable and lasting contribution to our community and our state achieving exceptional success in all aspects of society including business, education, politics, science, and the arts.

And whereas in 1976 Black History Month was formally adopted to honor and affirm the importance of black history throughout art American experience and is full of individuals who took a stance against prejudice, advanced the cause of civil rights, strengthened families communities in our nation. And whereas all Americans are encouraged to reflect on past successes and the challenges of African-Americans and look into the future to improve this society so that we live up to ideals of freedom equality and justice now therefore be proclaimed that the city of Council of the City of Port Hueneme does hereby recognize February 2026 as Black History Month and invites the community to celebrate the diversity, culture and traditions of our community.

Proclaim the 17th day of February 2026 Thank you.

Great. Thank You councilmember Lopez Okay, now we're going to recess from the City Council meeting and call the Housing Authority regular meeting To order the time is now 6 57 Can we get a roll call madam clerk?

No public comments.

Thank you so we'll move on to the consent calendar the Housing Authority consent calendar these items will be considered routine and will be approved in one motion unless an item is requested to be removed for discussion but before we get to that we're going to take any public comments for the housing authority

And no public comments for this either.

Great, thank you so at this time does any member have a request to remove any items of discussion? If there aren't any then we'll go ahead and is there a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar?

So moved to approve.

Second. Great thank you Madam Clerk.

All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Hearing none motion passes

Okay, so there's no business items. Any authority members have a report or comments?

No

if not we're going to adjourn the Port Hueneme Housing Authority regular meeting and reconvene to the City Council regular meeting. The time is now 6 58 And we're going to, okay. We're back to the council meeting so we're gonna now look at our consent calendar for the council meeting. So all items will be enacted in one motion unless a council member has a desire to pull an item for further discussion but before we get there we're gonna ask if there are any public comments for the consent calendar? No

public comments.

Great thank you Does any council member would like to pull an item from the consent calendar?

I'd like to pull Item 4.

Okay, so if we're gonna pull item for anyone else So can we get a motion to approve items 1 through 3 and 5?

Move to approve items 1 2 3 & 5

Second great madam clerk

all in favor aye all opposed Hearing none motion passes unanimously

Great, thank you. Council Member Lopez, item number four?

So in the report it stated that the recommendation was to go with the two-year terms for Alexander Contracting but during the bidding process they actually were very little pricier and it was like $3,000 than the second vendor and there was the third was disqualified for for not meeting the deadline. So was the vendor that wasn't selected, did they meet all their requirements?

Good question. Good evening mayor City Council so Alex Sanders the company that we are recommending did come in $3,000 higher on the annual annual fee The second second proposer was DB utility who is a new company they've been doing business for about two years now and The qualifications were just just night and day. So they really had very minimal meter reading experience So it really it was really an easy easy selection again the qualifications, they just weren't even close so

But they met all the requirements You guys are just more satisfied with the excellent service that Alexander provides. Correct,

so yeah we've been with Alexander since 2013 they've always done a good job they work hand-in-hand with the finance department with billing so so they the staff did only recommend they only had one person available to read meters according to their proposal The last thing we want to do, what Water Division wants to do is put a burden on the finance department with billing and it's just kind of a trickle effect. So again Alexander's has been with us since 2013 they've done a great job and that's why we are recommending Alexander's.

When are we gonna go to like a digital meter where itself

reports? We're doing a two-year contract right now with two options possibly Yeah, I read the report.

My real question was, did they meet the qualifications? And it sounds like they did. Right?

They did but their staffing was very minimal. To bring in one person to reach 6,000 meters in a couple days would be tough. So we have to meet certain deadlines and it just didn't show the staffing.

If I can add, I was gonna sort of reiterate Dennis's last point there is that we know that there's a lot that can go wrong with this and right now Alexander's does a good job on the rare occasions where there's a problem Quickly things could go wrong, so for us knowing that Alexander has experience in our community and we have had a good working relationship with them and are comfortable with them goes a long way versus the idea. And in the scheme of things one bid was $104,000, the other was $107,000. So was it worth the $3,000 to try somebody new that we aren't familiar with?

We decided to recommend the Alexander's contract.

Thank

you. Okay is there a motion and a second to approve item number four?

Moved to approve. Second.

All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Hearing none, motion passes unanimously

Great, thank you. We're going to move now to the public hearing. This is the introduction of ordinance to amend Article 3 Chapter 12 Section 3987.1 of the Port Hueneme Municipal Code to reduce the maximum number of commercial cannabis businesses allowed in the city and find the action is exempt from CEQA. Madam Clerk do we have proof of publication as required by law and a complete files of reports and exhibits?

Yes madam mayor Great,

thank you. Will staff please present the report?

Good evening Mayor, Council Members, City staff members of the public. So as indicated in your explanation of the agenda item number six is a public hearing regarding a potential amendment to the Municipal Code if approved this would decrease the number of cannabis businesses that are allowed to operate in the city. As stated in the staff report and as we mentioned in the presentation approval of this action would not impact any existing business When the city's cannabis program was first established, the recreational cannabis market was in its early stages.

At that time competition was limited and the regulatory landscape was just taking shape. The primary purpose for the city creating that program was to add additional revenue to the city's general fund and spur economic development in the city while providing a regulated and compliant framework for cannabis related businesses As the Council may recall, at the start of last year we had 17 approved development agreements for cannabis-based businesses.

As the market has evolved several challenges have emerged. These include increased competition from illegal cannabis sales, high state taxes and complex state regulations, expansion of cannabis operations in nearby cities of Oxnard and Ventura, and impacts from broader economic challenges. As a result of those challenges, the local cannabis industry in our city has been adversely impacted.

Revenues generated by cannabis businesses within the City have declined significantly over the last few years. In some cases, cannabis businesses have ceased operating and have entirely closed. In other cases, businesses that had approved plans were ultimately unable to open. In communicating with the existing operators, I can tell you that existing cannabis businesses that are in operation continue to face ongoing financial and competitive challenges further impacting the stability of the local market.

In response to those conditions, on October 20th the City Council provided staff with direction to return to council with a recommendation to consider revising Municipal Code section 3987.1 to reduce the maximum number of retail dispensaries delivery businesses lounges and manufacturing and distribution licenses There is no established industry standard that defines an appropriate business-to-population ratio for cannabis operations.

However, when Port Hueneme is compared with other cities it becomes clear that our current cap on cannabis businesses is very high given our population and market size. The chart on this slide illustrates by business type, the current cap, the number of existing businesses in that business type and the proposed revised cap. It's important to note that the proposed cap reduction would not require the closure of any existing cannabis business.

All businesses that are currently operating would be unimpacted by the change and any completed application that's under review at the time of the effective date of the new cap, if approved, would be allowed to continue through the application process. However, under this approach no new cannabis applications would be accepted until the total number of businesses fall below the newly established cap.

This would allow the market to naturally rebalance over time. The item presented to you is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Title 14, Section 15061B3 which states projects are exempt when it can be seen that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. And the fiscal impact we're hoping to achieve, limiting the number of businesses that are allowed to operate.

We are hoping that will enhance the long-term sustainability of approved businesses and help stabilize revenues that are provided to the city. To restate the recommendation before you, it's to open the public hearing, take testimonial and documentary evidence. Close the public hearing and consider that evidence. Introduce an ordinance of the City of Port Hueneme to amend Article 3 Chapter 12 Section 3987.1 of the Port Hueneme Municipal Code to reduce the maximum number of commercial cannabis businesses allowed to operate within the City of Port Hueneme Make a determination the project is exempt under CEQA and to take any additional related action that may be desirable.

That concludes the staff presentation, I'm available for any questions.

Great thank you. Council members do you have any questions? And only questions

at this time. Yeah, so with 65% revenue drop from 22 to 25 of the seven performing cannabis retail stores what kind of percentage are we seeing declining sales on those still open businesses?

It's a moving target, so it's hard to say. I will say that anecdotally some of our existing operators have stabilized. Some are continuing to face economic challenges and we're still seeing month-over-month decline in their revenues. I don't have specific percentages for each of the operators but I will say some of them seem to be stabilizing and my communications with them they reinforce that feeling that they're finding kind of that point of stability and there are a handful that have not reached that and are continuing to struggle in finding that revenues continually decline.

Okay, so what if we had a struggling business and they wanted to sell the business prior for them prior to getting this permit pooled? Is that why is that a viable solution?

So our municipal ordinance does provide for the transfer of an existing business. There is a process and a vetting that the city would undertake, so while the option is there it's not necessarily a guarantee. The city has the opportunity to vet information about the qualifications of what would be the incoming or the new business So that is an option, but not something that is promised or guaranteed to any new operator.

Because our long-term goal is innovation and opportunity if a new more innovative operator wants to apply but it's blocked by an underperforming business that he was trying to assume so we're saying no, we're just going to stick to the cap

No, if there was a high-performing business that had a solid business plan That had experience and the city had a level of confidence that this would be a successful operation. That would be something subject to review by the city that Based on those hypotheticals could potentially be approved if it was a transfer of an existing business. Yes

Okay so our goal is to sit to to reduced the density saturation. But when you look, can you go back to the chart with all the numbers? Okay so if we're only gonna say five retail cannabis dispensaries but we're still open for business for cannabis lounges manufacturing and distribution that's not really lowering the density So why not just say 5-4-2-1-1 and we cap it there?

Because these numbers are not moving. I guess the real question is, how would a cannabis lounge work if I was just strictly going to be a cannabis lounge? Don't I have to have a retail store as well?

You do. That's in our cannabis or implementing cannabis ordinance so that is a requirement the alignment of five cannabis dispensaries and five cannabis lounges effectively means that we would allow sometime in the future if we had five, we would allow the opportunity for any and all of those five to consider opening lounges subject to city review Got it.

Yes, so the hope would actually be that we have five successful dispensaries who eventually say we'd all like to have a lounge lounges Yeah, so our lounge each for the five So that's that's why those numbers make sense and if they are successful And they can get they can pull off a micro business that actually does all the functions I think that's another reason why having that consistent number of five is what you'd really want The dream scenario, which probably won't happen or at least anytime soon but it would be that you have five businesses who are actually doing the dispensary, the lounge, the manufacturing and the distribution. And that'd be a great scenario but the manufacturing and distribution continue to be a challenge in Southern California just due to costs so.

Okay well last all right this is a comment but those were only questions I had thank you

My question is kind of like a legal question. We're allowing seven businesses in operation right now, but we have a cap of five. Is there any... Clearly it's conflicting. No

you're setting the new cap but the ordinance provides that current permitted businesses can continue in use so at some point if those businesses cease operation that slot will then disappear And it'll go down to six, and then down to five. And at that point you'll be at your cap so there's no immediate effect on existing operations.

So could there be a scenario where a business is trying to sell and then we say well, no? And then they report it, well look you had seven in operation even though you had a five cap.

And yeah, that's I think what Charles was addressing before and if an existing permitted business wanted to transfer its business to another operator There is a mechanism to do that which would still maintain you at seven Permitted uses but that new operator would have to fully qualify just as any new applicant would and be vetted by the city and approved Okay, there's no guarantee that that would be permitted. But there is a mechanism for it

I do. So just so I'm looking at this table correctly and like, I've never been very good at math but it seems that we have seven retail cannabis dispensaries in operation and two of them have lounges is that correct?

That's correct.

Okay so we don't have the cannabis lounges as Councilman Lopez was referring to are not standalone Are the delivery businesses standalone or are they part of retail cannabis dispensary?

So the row there that indicates delivery only businesses, those are standalone and separate. I will note that many of the retail cannabis dispensaries have delivery services as well but the row for delivery only business is a separate business type.

And then manufacturing of the seven one is a manufacturing business

Yeah, we have one business that is a micro-business that has both manufacturing distribution as well as retail operation.

And then distribution, we only have one that does distribution what does that mean? Don't they all distribute?

I wish I had the definitions before me. They all sell, they have retail operations. The distribution involves the packaging and... It's basically

wholesale. Distribution to other companies? Yeah. Okay other businesses okay very good thanks I understand

that. It requires a separate state license to transfer it from one to another.

Okay very good thank you. Any other questions?

Okay, if there's no other questions we're now going to open the public hearing and take public comments. So the hearing is now open it is 717 are there any public comments regarding this item?

There are no in-person public comments I just wanted to note that one of the written comments was for this item.

Great thank you. No other comments I'm gonna close the public hearing so it has concluded and the time is now 717 Okay, so we have before us the recommendation to introduce an ordinance of the City of Port Hueneme to amend Article 3 Chapter 12 Section 3987.1 of the Port Hueneme Municipal Code reduce the maximum number of commercial cannabis businesses allowed to operate within the city of Port Hueneme. Number four, make a determination the project is exempt from CEQA and five take such additional related action that may be desirable. We have a motion and a second.

Move to approve. Second.

Thank you. Is there any discussion? Any discussion? No discussion?

I'll comment.

Okay go right ahead.

So with Port Hueneme's population of 22,000 that would be one retailer per 4400 residents. And yes it's not just Port Hueneme we have other Ventura County neighbors that do visit our dispensary so the number is still high so there is still over saturation but it's a good start like it and you're telling me that the current retailers are happy with the cap?

I don't want to speak specifically for any retailer, I will say genuinely they are supportive of a reduction of the cap. As a business owner if I were in their shoes I might want a cap of one being my business but yes they are supportive of reducing the number and I did get some positive feedback specifically from three businesses and I did not receive any hesitation or any negative feedback from any operator

Yeah, and then the public comment was in support of so that was just my comment. I think the saturation it's survival of the fittest is happening and the stronger companies are actually surviving so

The thing that we've talked a lot about is it seems counterintuitive to say that we're helping our businesses by putting a cap and not allowing more of these types of businesses, but that's also a factor that we really want to highlight. Caps typically actually sort of do help because they Provide opportunities for other businesses and so like right this minute we all know that there are several properties that the city believed that were eventually going to be dispensaries that are still being held vacant because People still are holding out hope that eventually they can like, you know figure out how to put a dispensary there But the market has just changed so much. And so by putting a cap on And it sort of, it should encourage some of those other vacant buildings right now to actually be put to use for other purposes.

We've seen that happen in other cities and things where if 20 properties were being earmarked for cannabis but now only five businesses are opening well now you're putting 15 businesses especially in a built out city that's not very You know, big for us it's like this is potentially opportunities for seven or eight other businesses that right now wouldn't be able to afford the rent of that business or wouldn't be able to rent it because it's being held for cannabis purposes. So it seems counterintuitive but it's sort of addition by subtraction for economic development purposes or that's our goal and our hope with it.