Concord City Council OKs New Cannabis Storefront At Park & Shop

CONCORD, CA — The Concord City Council on Tuesday approved a cannabis storefront retail operation planning to move into the Park & Shop center.

Santa Barbara-based Coastal Retail wants to be up and running at 1847 Willow Pass Road by August. It would be the third retail cannabis storefront operation in Concord. The city adopted an ordinance in 2020 to allow three such adult-use-only establishments in the city, along with manufacturers, non-storefront retail, distributors, and microbusinesses.

The council technically approved two items; the first, which was approved unanimously, was for an administrative permit and design and site review for a cannabis storefront retail business.

The second was for the development agreement between the city and Coastal, which passed 4-1.

Vice Mayor Laura Hoffmeister dissented over language in the resolution she said gave cannabis providers the ability to skirt future rules involving vaping.

Council member Edi Birsan said he'd like the city to change its rules to add more dispensaries.

"I would like to see us put it on (the council's agenda) some time in the future to discuss it, because I believe the market should be able to sort this out and we should have additional dispensaries," Birsan said.

The city received 21 proposals for its limited storefront permits. Coastal was one of three chosen, along with Authentic Concord and Culture Club Corporate Enterprise.

The planning commission officially recommended the project in December, forwarding it to the council for final approval. Hoffmeister asked staff to work with Coastal to see if they could include some sort of decorative concrete bollards or planters, to shield the store from smash and grab robberies.

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