Sharing your comments with the Office of Cannabis
Any person may submit written comments or arguments relevant to the proposed rules during the comment period. If you have questions or want to submit written comments or arguments, email officeofcannabis@sfgov.org.
In addition to submitting by email, written comments may be submitted by U.S. mail or in person to:
Office of Cannabis
49 South Van Ness
Suite 660
San Francisco
CA 94103
1. Applicants for permits under Article 16 of the Police Code are responsible for submitting all application materials requested by the Office of Cannabis at the time that the Office requests those materials.
2. If, at any time, the Office determines that additional information is required to provide the Office with sufficient information to process those application materials in a manner consistent with Article 16, the Office will notify the applicant in writing and the applicant shall supply the requested information or documentation within five business days.
3. If, after an application is received, a competing storefront retail application (i.e., an application with a business address within 600 feet of the applicant's business address) is submitted, the Office will notify the applicant in writing of the existence of the competing application and, in some cases, of the need to submit additional information. The applicant shall supply any requested information or documentation within ten business days.
4. If the Office requests additional information from an applicant 90 days or more after the Director has notified an Applicant that their application is incomplete as set forth in Section 1615(1) of the Police Code, and the applicant fails to provide the requested information to the Office by the applicable five-day or ten-day deadline, then the application will be deemed abandoned and will not receive further consideration, except as specified in item 5, below. The consequences of abandoning an application are set forth in Section 1615 of the Police Code.
5. If the applicant withdraws an application prior to the expiration of the five-day or ten-day deadline, then that application will not be deemed abandoned. If an applicant cannot meet a five-day or ten-day deadline due to circumstances beyond their control, they may request an extension (for a defined period of time) from the Office of Cannabis. The Office shall have discretion to grant or deny the extension, or to take other appropriate action (including, but not limited to, granting an extension for a shorter period of time).
6. Subject to the foregoing, the Office of Cannabis shall apply the following procedures to determine the order in which application materials are processed:
a. The Office of Cannabis shall process application materials according to the priority categories set forth in Section 1606(c) of the Police Code.
b. Within the “Equity Applicant” priority category, any change in the manner in which an Applicant satisfies the criteria set forth in Section 1604(b)(3)(A)–(E) shall not affect the order in which the Applicant’s application materials are processed, as long as the identity of the Equity Applicant does not change.
c. Within each priority category set forth in Section 1606(c) of the Police Code, the Office of Cannabis shall review, consider, and process all complete applications, revisions, corrections and other permit-related material application materials in the order in which they are received, except that the Office of Cannabis may depart from this procedure:
(i) if the Office determines, in writing, that good cause (including, but not limited to, the need to remedy an earlier error in the process of related application materials) exists for such a departure, or
(ii) if the Office determines, in writing that an applicant has not supplied requested information or documentation within ten business days of being notified of the existence of a competing storefront retail application, as specified in item 3, then the original application will b placed "on hold," and he competing application will be processed, provided the competing applicant supplies any requested information or documentation within ten business days of such request, as specified in item 3.
(iii) as otherwise provided by applicable law.
d. To have an application be considered received:
(i) All applicants must complete all applicable fields in the online application, and must submit documentation substantiating that the applicant is a legitimate business entity, and that the applicant is authorized to operate a cannabis business at the address provided in the application. In general, to substantiate that the applicant is a legitimate business entity, an applicant will be required to submit their business account number and corresponding location identification number for the subject property. In general, to demonstrate authorization to operate a cannabis business at a particular address, an applicant will be required to submit documentation of legitimate occupancy (such as a lease agreement) and documentation of a landlord’s explicit authorization of the intended cannabis business use on the property.
(ii) Equity Incubator applicants only must submit an Incubator Agreement that meets all Equity Incubator requirements, including naming the form of incubation, outlining the specific benefits of the incubation, and identifying at least one verified Equity Applicant partner at the time of application.
(iii) Verify Equity Applicants only must submit documentation showing how the applicant meets the ownership requirements outlined in Police Code Section 1604(b)(3)(A-E), and all other material agreements associated with the business for which the applicant is seeking a cannabis business permit at the time of application.
e. The Office of Cannabis will refer application materials related to a proposed Medicinal Cannabis Retailer or Cannabis Retailer to the Department of Building Inspection for acceptance of a Building Permit Application or to the Planning Department for acceptance of a Conditional Use Authorization Application, except as provided below.
f. If two or more Applicants within the same priority category apply for Medicinal Cannabis Retailer or Cannabis Retailer permits within 600 feet of each other, the Office of Cannabis shall process the first-received set of application materials (including, but not limited to, referring those materials to the Department of Building Inspection and the Planning Department) first, and shall hold any later-received application materials in abeyance, to ensure consistency with Section 202.2(a)(5) of the Planning Code. Any application materials held in abeyance pursuant to this rule shall not lose their place in line under the criteria set forth in this rule. In the event that the Applicant who submitted an earlier-received set of application materials becomes unable to proceed with their permit application for any reason (including, but not limited to, an adverse determination by the Department of Building Inspection or the Planning Department), the Office of Cannabis shall proceed the next-received set of application materials according to that set of applicant materials’ place in line under the criteria set forth in this rule.
7. Within the “Equity Applicant” priority category, after an Applicant has submitted all application materials requested by the Office of Cannabis, the Office of Cannabis in its discretion may allow the Applicant to have one opportunity to apply for approval of a new location while maintaining their place in line under the criteria set forth in this rule, provided there are no material changes in the application other than the location, and the new location proposed is not within 600 ft. of an existing Medical Cannabis Retailer or a Cannabis Retailer Applicant with a pending application. A request for approval of a new location will not be approved unless the Applicant demonstrates that the original location is no longer viable due to circumstances out of the Applicant’s control. The Applicant shall have six months from the time that the Office of Cannabis grants this opportunity to apply for approval of a new location. The Office shall have discretion to grant or deny an addition six month extension, or to take other appropriate action (including, but not limited to, granting an extension for a shorter period of time).
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