Law and Legislation Committee Meeting October 5, 2021: Cannabis and Affordable Housing Discussions
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Law and Legislation Committee Meeting
On Tuesday, October 5, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., the Sacramento City Law and Legislation Committee convened via teleconference (Zoom) to address three main agenda items: a consent calendar, cannabis business ownership and delivery restrictions, and strategies to incentivize affordable housing. The committee took unanimous votes on the cannabis items and received public testimony on both cannabis and housing matters. The meeting adjourned at 2:17 p.m.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1 (Law and Legislation Log) and Item 2 (Legislative Advocacy Correspondence) were approved unanimously (4-0) via a single motion by Member Harris, seconded by Member Schenirer.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Cannabis Items (4 & 5): Seven public speakers testified, overwhelmingly opposing the moratorium extension and urging the committee to allow the suspension on ownership changes to expire. Speakers included dispensary owners (Kimberly Cargyle, Trey Ish), industry representatives (Joe Devlin of the Northern California Cannabis Alliance, Michael Hawkins), a core program recipient (Mindy Galloway), and community member Deanna Garcia. Assemblymember Kevin McCarty also urged expiration. The Power Inn Alliance supported the chair's recommendation to extend for a comprehensive study, noting the piecemeal approach has been problematic.
- Affordable Housing (Item 3): Three speakers commented. Jameson Parker (Midtown Association) cautioned against overburdening housing with fees. Liz Laurent Williams (Downtown Sacramento Partnership) urged careful analysis. Cornelius Burke (North State Building Industry Association) opposed mandatory inclusionary zoning, citing a study predicting a 6.8% increase in home prices and an 8.4% increase in rents, along with a net loss of 700 units over 10 years.
Discussion Items
- Item 4 – Suspension of Changes in Ownership of Storefront Cannabis Dispensaries: Staff presented options to let the moratorium expire or extend it. Chair Schenirer recommended a six-month extension to await the EPS study on the city's cannabis industry. Several members expressed willingness to revisit ownership rules sooner if data allowed.
- Item 5 – Limit on Authorized Cannabis Delivery Businesses in the Southeast Industrial Area: Staff reviewed the sunsetting cap (currently 50 delivery businesses) and options to extend, modify, or let it expire. The committee discussed consistency with District 2's request to wait for the EPS study.
- Item 3 – Affordable Housing Strategies: Staff (Greta Soos and Ryan Dodge) provided a one-year update on the Ministerial Approval of Infill Housing program, noting that 9 projects applied under the city's ministerial permit (vs. 2 under SB 35), with 645 affordable units approved (80% of total affordable units under ministerial processes). They also presented a draft scope of work to review the Mixed Income Housing Ordinance, including an economic feasibility study. Staff corrected a table in the staff report that underreported affordable units. The committee discussed the need for data-driven decisions and the importance of understanding causality behind the uptick in affordable housing production.
Key Outcomes
- Item 4: Motion by Member Guerra, seconded by Member Valenzuela, to direct staff to draft an ordinance extending the suspension on ownership changes for six months and to waive ordinance review by the Law and Legislation Committee. Passed unanimously (4-0).
- Item 5: Motion by Member Guerra, seconded by Member Valenzuela, to direct staff to draft an ordinance extending the prohibition on delivery businesses in the Southeast Industrial Area for six months and to waive committee review. Passed unanimously (4-0).
- Item 3: The committee reviewed and commented on the affordable housing strategies. No formal action was taken; staff will incorporate feedback into the RFP and continue the review process.
- Committee Comments: Member Guerra requested staff to add a safe storage for firearms item to the law and legislation log. Member Valenzuela requested an update on the Tenant Protection Program, which staff agreed to schedule.
Meeting Transcript
Chair Staff is ready when you are. I am ready. So thank you very much. I want to call this meeting of the law and legislation committee to order. Madam Clerk, if you could call the role to establish a quorum. Thank you. Councilmember Ghetta. Here. Vice Chair Harris. There. Councilmember Valenzuela. Here and Chair Shane. Thank you very much. And doing items four and five before item three. If we can move through those. So with that, and Madam Clerk, I don't know if you need to let Davina know or Laney if you say that you're on, if you could let Davina know. Let's go ahead and uh do the consent calendar. Are there any questions or comments on the consent calendar? Move consent. Okay, I have a motion by Mr. Harris. I'll go ahead and second. Please call the roll. Councilmember Gana. All right. Vice Chair Harris. Councilmember Valenzuela. Yes. And Chair Shaneer. Yes. Okay, we're off to a good start. That's a unanimous roll call. Thank you very much. Let's go ahead and do items four and five. And before we do the presentation, let me ask a couple of questions. And I know Ms. Smith will be doing the presentation for us. One is I'd like to hear the items together. They have somewhat different uh they could have different outcomes on this. We'll take separate votes on it. But uh I want to make a statement uh once we get through the presentations of why they are on the agenda in the first place. So, Ms. Smith, if you want to start that and then we'll go from there. And Madam Clerk, do we have public comments on this? I have no hands raised to make public comment at this time. Okay, thank you. Ms. Smith, nice to see you. So, Chair, I just chair. I just got four hands raised.
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