Paso Robles City Council advances cannabis delivery ordinance

Paso Robles residents moved a step closer this week to having locally licensed cannabis delivery — without any storefront dispensaries in town.

At its Tuesday night meeting, the Paso Robles City Council unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance allowing locally based cannabis businesses to deliver medicinal and recreational cannabis within city limits, on the condition that they operate no retail storefronts, the Paso Robles Daily News reported. The council also scrapped the city's previous cap of three licensed businesses.

The decisions came as part of a wide-ranging agenda that included water conservation rules, a major debt refinancing for the Nacimiento Water Project, and a pause on the long-debated sale of Pioneer Park.

What the cannabis ordinance does

Under the advanced ordinance, delivery-only cannabis businesses would be permitted to apply to operate in the Riverside Corridor and Commercial/Light Industrial zoning districts. Each would need both a conditional use permit and a newly created cannabis regulatory permit, and businesses must stay at least 600 feet from schools, day care centers, youth centers, and public parks.

The city will continue to prohibit storefront dispensaries and all other commercial cannabis activities — a stance Paso Robles has maintained even as many other San Luis Obispo County communities have legalized some form of retail cannabis.

Annual permit renewals are required, giving the city leverage to conduct inspections, background checks, compliance reviews, and financial audits of permit holders. The council chose a hybrid administration model recommended by staff: city employees will handle applications and permits, while an outside consultant will perform specialized reviews.

The fee structure has not yet been adopted, but staff are expected to return with proposed costs including a $5,500 initial application fee, $4,600 for annual renewal, and $11,000 for a financial audit every three years.

Because the council approved only a first reading, the ordinance must return for a second reading and final adoption before taking effect.

Water rules target decorative grass

The council also unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance prohibiting the use of drinking water to irrigate "nonfunctional turf" — grass kept primarily for appearance rather than recreation or other practical purposes.

The ordinance brings Paso Robles into compliance with Assembly Bill 1572, the state law phasing in restrictions on ornamental grass. Under the staff report's timeline, the prohibition begins Jan. 1 for government and public agency properties, extends to commercial, industrial, and institutional properties in 2028, and covers homeowners association common areas and similar properties in 2029. Cemeteries are exempt.

Property owners may still use drinking water to keep trees and other permanent plants alive, or to address immediate health and safety needs. State officials may impose fines for violations. City staff will return to council in October with findings and recommendations for city-owned properties — a locally visible test of the new rules, given the amount of parkway and medallion landscaping the city maintains.

A multi-million-dollar break on Nacimiento debt

In a unanimous vote with long-term budget implications, the council authorized documents allowing the San Luis Obispo County Financing Authority to refinance roughly $75.5 million in bonds issued in 2015 for the Nacimiento Water Project — the pipeline that delivers water from Lake Nacimiento to Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, and the Templeton Community Services District.

The new bonds are expected to carry lower borrowing costs without extending the 2038 final repayment date. Paso Robles is responsible for about 45% of the debt being refinanced, and preliminary estimates put the city's savings at roughly $220,000 per year — about $2.8 million over the remaining life of the bonds.

Final numbers depend on market conditions when the bonds are priced, expected in September. The authority will proceed only if the refinancing meets its required savings threshold. The council also authorized releasing city financial information to prospective investors and future disclosures to bondholders.

Pioneer Park sale on hold — for now

The council voted 4-1, with Councilmember Kris Beal dissenting, to delay the sale of Pioneer Park for now and directed staff to meet with interested parties, encourage proposals with cultural significance, and return with vetted offers.

The roughly 1.65-acre property near 1910 Riverside Avenue includes restrooms, a small parking lot, and a skate park. The city had previously negotiated with the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo, which proposed affordable housing there, but the parties never agreed on a sale price or other terms. A later appraisal valued the property at $1.69 million.

Both the Pioneer Museum Foundation and the Paso Robles Event Center have separately expressed interest in acquiring the site. Meanwhile, the city's Parks Master Plan process continues, and staff may still bring vetted proposals to the council while it's underway.

For residents, the meeting's outcomes were largely procedural but consequential: the cannabis ordinance's second reading will finalize rules that could bring delivery services — and new permit revenue — to town; the turf ordinance sets deadlines property owners will need to track; and the Pioneer Park question, unresolved for years now, stays open at least a little longer.