Long Beach doesn’t currently allow recreational marijuana dispensaries in its downtown — but that could soon change. And if it does, Casey Crow Collective will be the first to open up in what’s currently a vacant storefront on Pine Avenue.
The Planning Commission voted at its Thursday, April 15, meeting to recommend the City Council make certain changes in the zoning code to allow for adult-use cannabis dispensaries in mixed use buildings in the downtown, and to approve a permit for the neighborhood’s first at 433 Pine Ave.
Long Beach, though, will still only allow 32 dispensaries citywide.
“Nothing would please me more,” Elliot Lewis, with Casey Crow Collective, said, “than uplifting the entire 400 block of Pine.”
Lewis said he expected to provide 21-30 union jobs at the shop, which could serve 500-800 people per day.
But Ishqa Hillman, a local cannabis advocate, said she opposed the plan because “it benefits the few and not the many. A citywide policy would be better for the potential greater good of many operators,” she said. “I support a citywide change, not one that only benefits one person.”
City staff, though, noted that the zoning amendments would allow other dispensaries to open up in the neighborhood in the future. Focusing the policy change in the downtown makes sense, city staff said, because the character of the area wouldn’t change by allowing adult-use dispensaries in retail spaces.
Others who spoke in public comment said they supported the proposal and Casey Crow Collective in particular.
“We have worked closely with Mr. Lewis,” Leanna Noble, with the North Pine Neighborhood Alliance, said, “and are very confident that he is committed to this neighborhood and the residents who live here and can really add a significant improvement to the residents and also to the small businesses in the area.”
The City Council still must weigh in and approve the zoning changes before the Casey Crow Collective’s permit would go into effect.
