June 2021, Vacaville City Council approved ordinances that revised Municipal Code Section 9.13, and created zoning regulations in Municipal Code Section 14,09.140.  The two ordinances will allow cannabis businesses to operate in Vacaville after City Council approves the screening criteria and application process.  The screening criteria and application process are being researched and drafted by city staff, lead by the Economic Development Department and the City's consultant, HdL.  For further inquires, please contact Don Burrus, Economic Development Director, as Don.Burrus@cityofvacaville.com.  

On June 11, 2019, the Vacaville City Council approved an ordinance prohibiting any establishment in Vacaville from cultivating, warehousing/storing, manufacturing, distributing, transporting, or selling of cannabis products  

In regard to deliveries, State law expressly prevents any jurisdiction from prohibiting delivery of cannabis or cannabis products on public streets.  This ordinance would prohibit a business in Vacaville from establishing a delivery program or from being licensed or involved in the delivery of cannabis and cannabis products. 

This ordinance cannot prevent licensed cannabis businesses in other jurisdictions from delivering in Vacaville.  The draft ordinance includes language to address this topic.  The ordinance also includes language to address the possibility of the State law changing for any reason, such as the lawsuit the City is part of to overturn this area of the law.

On October 24, 2017 the Vacaville City Council approved an extension to a moratorium that was put in place on Sept. 26, 2017 (see video below). The interim ordinance was effective for 45 days and established a moratorium on the approval, commencement, establishment, or operation of all industrial, retail, and commercial cannabis land uses, deliveries, and all outdoor cannabis cultivation in any zoning district within the City.

The two-year extension gives City of Vacaville staff time to craft ordinances of the City of Vacaville Municipal Code regarding various aspects of cannabis land uses.

Items to be addressed during the moratorium period include personal cultivation, uses such as testing, research, manufacturing facilities, commercial agricultural uses, and commercial uses such as retail dispensaries.

The plan is to bring different categories back to the council for discussion at study sessions and guidance from the City Council during the two-year period the moratorium is in place.

Once completed, each item will go before the City of Vacaville Planning Commission, which will then make a recommendation to the City of Vacaville City Council. Our goal is to have the first new ordinance ready for public consideration by spring 2018.

A variety of actions at the state level have led the City to take these measures. Since 2015, the State of California has actively approved legislation that progressively legalize cannabis for both medicinal and recreational uses. They include:

• October 9, 2015 – Governor Brown signed 3 separate legislative bills, AB 266, AB 243 and SB 643 (effective on January 1, 2016), collectively referred to as the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA). [Regulated and licensed cultivation, dispensing, distribution, manufacturing, testing and transportation of medical cannabis.]
  
  
• June 27, 2016 – Governor Brown signed SB 837 (effective on June 27, 2016), referred to as the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA). [Added additional disciplinary grounds; required local license before applying for state license; implemented “seed to sale” tracking; required specific testing of cannabis plant.]
  
  
• November 8, 2016 – During the statewide general election, Proposition 64 was passed, referred to as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA). AUMA had some elements effective January 1, 2017, and others to go into effect by January 1, 2018.
  
  
• June 27, 2017 – Governor Brown approved the budget trailer bill SB 94, titled Cannabis - Medicinal and Adult Use. The new consolidated provisions are now known as the Medicinal and Adult Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA).
  
  
• September 16, 2017 – Governor Brown approved Assembly Bill 133, titled “Committee on Budget, Cannabis Regulation.” [Requires applicants to submit evidence of local agency approval to State licensing entities and for said entities to notify local agency upon submission of such evidence; deletes prohibition against testing labs delivering and transporting cannabis and/or products; allows Bureau of Cannabis Control to set standards for cannabis purchases by primary caregivers; and increases lawful possession of concentrated cannabis from 4 grams to 8 grams, among other changes.]

Together these actions create the current licensing and regulatory framework for cannabis and cannabis products in California. These bills address state licensing, cultivation, distribution, transportation, retail sales, testing, manufacturing, potential environmental protection, storage, and home delivery of both medicinal and recreational cannabis. The legislation provides local jurisdictions the ability to further regulate and tax some operations or to ban activities by adopting an ordinance.