City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, Mr. City Manager. Will you report out of session? What did I call him? City manager. Well, I'm just hoping, you know, city attorney, can you report out of close? Get somebody over there. You had two items on your agenda tonight. One was a discussion of public employee appointment of the city manager. Uh you did discuss that item. you did not have any other reportable action. Uh the second was a conference with legal counsel with regard to the initiation of litigation with regard to the property described in the agenda. You gave direction to the city attorney's office on that matter, but there was no other reportable action. That concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Miss city clerk, will you please remind me who's doing flag salute and who's doing pledge um um whatever the other thing's called. You're doing okay. All right. Excellent. Who's reading the pledge? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Oh, she's doing the pledge. Yes, that you said pledge. Council member Lamb, you'll be leading the pledge. Council member Carnival, you'll be doing the invocation.

Great. Thank you so much. And when we're done with the flag salute, if you would remain standing for the invocation, please. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us all together this evening to discuss matters of importance to Cathedral City. We ask just you give us the strength and the knowledge, the patience, and uh all the everything we need to come to conclusions tonight. We pray this in your name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Miss city clerk, we may please have roll call. Council member Carnivali present. Council member Lamb here. Council member Gutierrez here. Mayor Pro Tim Gregory here. Mayor Ross, I am here. Thank you so much. And next, do we have any changes to the agenda? There are no changes to the agenda. Mayor,

thank you so much. Number one for this evening is a special presentation. It's a recognition from the Cathedral City Police Department employees and I would like to invite council to come down and gather around the lectern you and I really appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor. But, uh, this is a really something special here tonight. Recently, we had a terrible crime in Cathedral City where, uh, a young man was unlived. And, Chief, I want to thank you for the dedication. Come up here, chief. I mean with your uh dedication to this uh department, the leadership, it's uh just deeply appreciated for what you do here in the Cathedral City. Uh you strengthen this community solving this case quickly and uh professionally and something like this this big who where this police department takes care of everybody in this room right now. We just got to say thank you very much, Chief I'm going to stand with you.

You're not doing it. What are you doing here? Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, sir. Thank you for whatever you do. Hard work. Not so long to do this. Appcate. Everybody. Sure. Everybody under 54 up front.

I want to stand right here. Mayor little certificates up. So they can all see them. Great job. [Applause]

Stay close. Every us stay close. We've lost friends. Stay close. We have another presentation up now and John, are you going to present it or is Andreas Okay. Andreas is going to talk about uh some recent recognition that our staff received at the APWA uh conference or meeting that they were just at.

Thank you, Madam City Manager, for the introduction. Good evening, honorable mayor, Mayor Prom, and city council members. It is my pleasure today to present to you the award for from the American Public Works Association, Coachella Valley. uh branch for the Espiranza Park project. This award carries great significance significance as APWA serves professionals in all aspects of public works with over 32,000 members across the nation. Its members are drawn from federal, state, county, and local agencies. APWA APWA is considered to be one of the most effective voices in the public works community for its pro promotion of capital improvement projects and public works programs. UR continues its rich tradition of making a difference at all levels from field crews to office staff by promoting professional excellence and public awareness through education and advocacy. Now the APWA award program recognizes outstanding accomplishments done by agencies. These are highly regarded and represent the best of what the or does which is public works. In a year with many uh outstanding entries, the Coachella Valley chapter of the the American Public Brooks Association has selected the city's Espiranza Park project as winner of the 2025 project of merit award in the recreational and athletic facilities category. Now, this award allows us to enter the park into further recognition from APW APWA at the regional and state level. Mayor Ross, uh on behalf of city staff, I'm honored to present this to you and congratulations [Applause] If you haven't been to Esa Park yet,

go is amazing. It's not a big green circle. It's completely different. There's some grass. It's also lovely yellow. Wait, wait. There's one more. One more. One more.

Good evening, honorable mayor, mayor, prom, city council members. Tonight, it is my pleasure to present another APWA project of merit award in the traffic mobility and beautifification category for the downtown cathedral city connectors gap closure and complete streets project or also known as ATP5. This award-winning project encompasses three segments. The Cathedral Canyon Drive sidewalks and multi-use trail, date palm drive expansion project, and the East Palm Canyon Drive bicycle lanes. Funded through the active transportation program and through partnerships with CEAC and RCTC, the city successfully delivered more than 5 miles of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. These improvements provide safe and convenient connections to the Cathedral City's vibrant downtown core and the regional CB link, encouraging healthy and active lifestyles. This prestigious award not only recognizes the project's outstanding achievements, but also makes the project eligible for advanced recognition at the regional, state, and national levels. This achievement reflects the dedication and collaboration of city staff with our consultants, contractors, and our regional funding agencies. Their collective efforts made it possible to bring the council's vision for a safer, healthier, and a more connected community to active life. On behalf of staff, we proudly congratulate and thank the mayor and city council for your continued leadership and dedication to creating projects that build momentum and move Cathedral City forward. So if we get one of these every three years, it's a big deal. You can imagine getting three in one night.

Well, mayor and council, what staff are being um very koi about is that Andrew was the lead on this project and Andreas was the lead on the Espironza project. And so the success of these grants are the direct results of their uh championing them and leading these these efforts. [Applause] Okay. Thank you for letting us do that. I appreciate it. your your consideration. Item number two are public comment. City clerk, will you please read the statement of participation?

Yes, mayor. Public comment is the opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are within the city council's jurisdiction but not on the agenda. Because of restrictions contained in California law, the city council may not discuss or act on any item not on the agenda, but may briefly respond to statements made or ask a question for clarification. The mayor may also request a brief response from staff to questions raised during public comment or request that a matter be agendaized for a future meeting. Public comment will be limited to 3 minutes. If you are a member of the public and you wish to address the city council, please complete a request to speak form available at the entrance and submit it to the city clerk. You will be called upon at the appropriate time. If you have materials or other items to present to the members of the city council, please do not approach them. All materials shall be presented to the city clerk for distribution. Mayor, we do have one request to speak for items that are not on the agenda. And the first speaker is Michael Torres.

Good evening, Mr. Torres.

Good evening, Mayor and uh city council. My name is Michael Torres, and I'm here on behalf of the Palm Springs Police Officers Association. Um that's a 501c3 nonprofit organization. Uh we respectfully submit the request for city council sponsorship for our 9th annual memorial ride, motorcycle ride to be held Saturday, November 8th here in your city um at the Cathedral City Community Amphitheater. To give a little backstory on this event, this event was founded in 2016 um after the deaths of our two fallen officers, officers Vega and Officer Zney. um is a way for us to honor their sacrifice uh within our within the association and to ensure that their memories do live on. Um as we begin a local tribute for our grown for all our for our grown and our fallen officers, we want we use this event to unify the community together and come together as from the motorcycle community as well in order to bring this event to the to light uh for all the members within the community itself. Um in support of our mission, we hope to offset some of the operational costs for this event. Uh we are humbly requesting city council sponsorship uh for the remainder of the rental fee for the amphitheater. To give a little backstory around this event as well, um we also use this uh event for scholarship for local students in order that they want to uh pursue their their dreams of being in law enforcement as well. Um that's the hope around the whole thing. Um additionally, um just give you a little bit of a backstory. Um tragically on on average, one one uh law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty every 48 hours here in the United States. Um, so it's just a little something to that we're working on together as a team. The whole concept behind this whole thing, we get the community involved, um, your associations, your local associations involved in order to grow this event in order to help the fall and um, give the ultimate sacrifice for for what they've done for our for all of us. I appreciate your time and I humbly would invite every single one of you to come to the event um, to really enjoy it with us and uh, and have a good time. Appreciate your time. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any other members of the public that wish to comment on items that are not on the agenda? I see no more, mayor. Thank you so much. Next, we will have council reports. I'd like to start down here. Council member Carnival.

Thank you. I'll be brief. We have a nice crowd here this evening, so I won't take up too much time. mayor, but uh I met with Stacy for uh from Bob Murray concerning recruitment for our new city manager. Spoke with her via Zoom and I met with Ann and Andy to go over this week's agenda. I requested Andy to be there so I could understand some parts of the cannabis ordinance. I attended the mayor's tribal lunchon along with council. We were represented with Annne and Andy, Eric, Rita, myself, and of course the mayor did a fabulous job up on stage. Thank you, mayor. I attended the ribbon ribbon cutting for a new Chipotle restaurant right here in Cathedral City. We have another ribbon uh coming right next door to it. Starbucks, if you haven't been up on that uh little shopping center, you got to go see it. It is beautiful. It's a state-of-the-art in the Starbucks grand opening will be October 2nd at 10:30. Uh another ribbon cutting uh celebrating 35 years of business in my district is Super Cuts. They're there at the uh uh Stater Brother shopping center. I didn't realize they had been there that long, 35 years. I also spoke with Mario Gonzalez. He shared with me his excitement on a verge of a new 75 home development right here in Cathedral City. Mario builds some great stuff and we're all excited about this moving forward. I also attended the badge pinning at the fire station. Once again, a well celebrated event. I had time to speak with uh some cadetses that uh Chief Conturus started. Uh, and I believe one of our cadetses is now off to school for firefighter school. So, we have high school students as cadets in our fire department now. First ever here. This council put this together with Chief Goneras. And I believe there's about seven, eight of them, maybe more, and they're just good young individuals looking for careers that live right here in Cathedral City. Uh, last but not least, I attended Charles or Charlie's farewell event at Nicks Beastro. It appeared to be that everybody did have a good time. So, thank you, mayor. That's all I have.

Thank you so very much, Council Member Gutierrez.

Thank you, Mayor. Well, as you can see, city council does a lot of things together, so I'll skip some of the things that were already mentioned. Um, it's nice to be here once again and since we last met, I attended as your representative a meeting for the Coachella Valley Association Government's Conservation meeting in which the uh commission accepted a partnership with the Mojave Land Trust for seed collection and preservation of desert plants from the lower and higher deserts. And what they do is they collect seeds from either the lower or the higher desert and they actually plant trees and trees and plants shrubs and they either plant them in the lower desert was necessary or the higher desert because there's a lot of areas that are affected by uh climate change wind and what they're doing and what they're seeing is that a lot of desert plants are actually disappearing or in danger. And what they're doing is they're just helping the nature actually uh reproduce itself, you can say. And I also uh one thing I forgot to mention is uh you celebrate your birthday last week on the 15th. Happy belated birthday. Yeah. 50 I believe, correct?

Yeah. And um along with my fellow council members as well, I attended uh the retirement party for Charlie McClinton who retired last week. So, we all had a great party and give him a farewell retirement for him. And after doing such an unbelievable job in our city and uh tomorrow, you forgot to mention uh one more ribbon cutting. We'll be participating in the coffee location. Coffee is located on the corner of Ramon Road and uh St. Louis Ray. This will be their first location with a drive-thru. They took a chance and uh they're opening that location. They're already open, but we're going to have the ribbon cutting tomorrow. I heard a lot of good things about it. Uh we'll see you guys there if you can make it.

What time is it? Uh so

yeah. And uh also along with Mayor Prom, uh we'll be be having Oh, I guess I received the message today. Uh we participate in a uh parks and recreation uh and community events commission. And what we do is we sit and talk and discuss what they're doing, what they will, what they want to do. And if we as city council can work with them to better their projects or events, we discuss it and we come up with ideas. And we normally do that um every 3 months, but tomorrow I think I received a text that has been cancelled. And also on October 2nd, everyone is welcome to join us and to uh to do the middle school kids walk to school day. That will be on September 2nd at 7:30 a.m. and it will start at the um at the uh Sentry Park. It will go all the way down to uh to James Borg Middle School. And uh as it was mentioned earlier, we are going to be attending the Starbucks grand opening coming up soon. And finally, one thing that I want to mention, if you can in your private moment, take a minute of silence and uh pray for the family are Charlie Kirk. Uh Charlie Kirk, as you know, was just an unbelievable person. Uh he loved to discuss differences and for that he was assassinated. So, if you can please take a moment of silence in memory of himself and his family. Thank you. That concludes my report.

Thank you so much, Council Member Lamb.

Great. Thank you very much. Um, and the first thing I want to acknowledge is our wonderful police department. That was such a great recognition. And, um, Councilman Carnival and Mayor Ross, you did a beautiful job. Thank you so much. Um, and I certainly want to they they already scured out of the room, but Andreas and Andrew did such a phenomenal job under with John's leadership, um, you know, in really pulling together all the all the zillions of moving parts for this park. Um, and it's such a valuable resource to our community. Um, I wanted to here tonight um, and I especially wanted to recognize Eric Besserel and Victor Gomez. you're doing a phenomenal job um as part of this uh Cathedral City Ignite focus on business and this whole campaign um and they are just concluding tomorrow evening. It's a four-part um session um for small businesses and how to get started if your business plan is a good one. If you don't have one, they'll help you. Um financing, it was fantastic. I was able to attend the first session. Um, and it was two hours. I was unable to attend the next two, but I'm going to be there tomorrow night as it concludes. Um, but thank you so much because it's really giving our business community, especially our small business community, that extra step they need and those connections and, you know, just how to how to get it off the ground in a professional way and be successful. So, thank you so much for that. And we got hats and, you know, water mugs and all sorts of goodies, you know. Um, so I really appreciate that. Um, I attended the, uh, Cathedral City participated in the Valleywide Employment Expo and that's held every year. It was at Fantasy Springs Casino. Um, and it was the be their beautiful showroom. Um, and in years past somehow Cathedral City's

been in the mix of it all and it took me a long time walking through it to find it. Well, if location, location, location is everything. As you walked in the doors, there was Cathedral City. So, we had representatives from our police department. We had human resources out there and Michelle from engineering. Um, and we got they got lots I mean the the all the booths were really um frequented by lots of people and I I crossed paths with two Cathedral City residents who were looking to expand um their futures and their career paths. So, it was really a great great showing. Um, also I attended along with Mayor Prom Hispanic Heritage Month celebration right down here um in town hall. It was just wonderful. And I'll let him go into details about that. But um in addition um engineering and um they made sure that they had community um bulletin boards up um about our um potential community center and what you wanted in a community center. what were the things that were high priority, how it should be built, and the kinds of um rooms and facilities that would be supportive of you and your needs going forward. So um that that's going to be placed in different parks around the area at different occasions um throughout this next six months. So please take advantage. They give you 10 stickies and you can spend your stickies any way you want. um you know and I wanted a fitness center as part of it. So I used all my 10 right there. So whatever your biases and priorities are, we want to hear from you. So thank you for that. Um and the last is I was able to attend two wonderful international day of peace um presentations. The first was a community gathering right here at our library. And I want to thank Bob McKenne and Karen

Riley and Sue Townsley for putting a package together and the application together for Cathedral City to be recognized as a city of peace. Um so in the the theme for this year's international day of peace is act now for a more peaceful world and cathedral city in addition to holding that this event um they had a beautiful Karen uh organized a beautiful art show um with art um from ch with uh artwork from children all over the world. It was just absolutely beautiful. Um we had speakers and it and it was a fantastic event. Um and then secondly, Bob Mckne leads a meditation at the Cathedral City Senior Center on Wednesdays. And um we all we've all been making contributions to have another bulletin board. And this time our bulletin our bulletin board is going to be um billboard is going to be down on date palm off the as you exit highway 10 and it's going to say peace now. Um so that's our contribution. we're acting now. Um, and thank you so much for all of that. And in the evening, I went to um an international day of peace celebration and where um the Cathedral City was recognized um as one of 450 cities throughout the world um as a city of peace. So, thank you.

Thank you very much, Mayor Prom.

Thank you, Mayor. Um we have all been busy since our last meeting two weeks ago. Um, some little I've had the opportunity, of course, to meet with some residents and a few staff meetings, uh, attend some nonprofit events. Uh, a few little highlights, though. Immediately after our last meeting that Thursday and Friday, I did travel to Orange County where I represented Cathedral City and the Riverside County Transportation Commission at Mobility, an event called Mobility 21. And mobility 21 is a collaboration between the transportation commissions throughout the the counties in Southern California from Ventura County down in Imperial County uh down down south. Um and they talk about and work together to try to work on solutions to our everinccreasing mobility issues in Southern California. So, I was pleased to be able to to help represent Cathedral City, the Coachella Valley, and Riverside County at that conference that started on Thursday evening and went through. I came back on Saturday that uh that weekend. Uh it was quite an event. And then, uh that later that next week, I as others have said, I did attend the Chipotle grand opening. If you're not aware, we have a great new Chipotle right across from the casino on Highway 111. So, make sure you come by and visit. That's the the first of our grand opening at least of um of facilities there. There's a Starbucks already operating there. There's they were announcing and confirming that well, of course, you see the Circle K with the gas pumps going up if you go by and there is a Farmer Boys that's due to start construction very soon there and more to come. So, we're very happy to join my fellow council members at that event. Um that was on Friday the 19th. Later that day, we also saw all of you

at a uh retirement event that's already been mentioned for our now former city manager. So uh we we're pleased to be able to give him a nice sendoff and of course welcome our interim city manager while we continue our hunt for a permanent city manager. But we're in good hands for now. And as my uh colleague, Council Member Lamb uh mentioned, she and I did attend and uh and represent the council at our Hispanic Heritage Month block party, which was right out front here in Cathedral City last Saturday. It was a very uh nice event. Hopefully the first of many annual events. Not necessarily as well attended as we would like, but uh it was a chance to have some um a little bit of of food, some ice cream, listen to some music, see some dancers, and there were a number of booths out. As has already been shared, this the city staff was out there collecting uh information on what we want for our new community center that's going to be financed by you through measure W. Um so that was great to be able to do that and it was a a very nice event. Later that day, I also did attend a uh an event put on by the Human Rights Campaign here in in Cathedral City. It was kind of a pre- pride event getting ready for their activities as Palm Spring Pride goes along. So, there were many other events, but those were the highlights. I do want to point out that our next city council meeting will not be in 2 weeks. It'll be less. I know they're so exciting that we just can't wait a full two weeks. So, our next city council meeting is going to be in 12 days. It's actually going to be on Monday, October 6th. that actually has been rescheduled because of a conference that many of us will be attending and um some staff also attending. Um so mark your calendar. It'll be at the same times but our next

C city council meeting will be on Monday October 6th. So with that I finish my comments. Thank you mayor.

Thank you so very much. Good evening. I want to address the critical and complex issue of homelessness in our community. We know that this is a top priority for our residents. I get calls and emails, many every month, and it remains a central focus of this city council. The recent most recent point in time count provided us with new data indicating both progress and persistent challenges across Riverside County. While there was a countywide decrease in the unsheltered homeless population, we know that for many Coachella Valley cities, the total number of individuals experiencing homelessness unfortunately increased. This means we must continue our focused efforts. I want to thank the hard work of our city staff and partners, particularly our police department's homeless liaison team. The recent success stories highlighted in the August Discover Digest, where officers helped multiple individuals secure permanent housing shows that their compassion and persistent approach is making a real difference in people's lives. However, the problem requires more than just dedicated officers. It demands a holistic, sustained, and collaborative approach. Looking forward, we must build upon our successful collaborations with regional partners like Coachella Valley Association of Governments and vital nonprofit groups such as Coachella Valley Rescue Mission and Martha's V Village village and Kitchen. As we move forward, our strategy must be focused on several key areas. We need to continue advocating for additional resources for mental and behavioral health services, which are critical to helping our most vulnerable residents. We must strengthen our partnerships with county and nonprofit partners to ensure a seamless system of care for those in need. While regional programs like Coachella Valley Housing First are showing positive trends, the

long-term solutions lie in increasing our supply of affordable housing. The issue will not be solved overnight, but through persistent effort, collaboration, and compassion, we can continue to make a meaningful impact. Thank you very much to all of our city staff. they really do roll their sleeves up and take on this important issue. And thank you to our community for the ongoing support as we work towards a valuable solution. Thank you. All right. Next, we have our consent agenda. Madame Clerk, will you please read the agenda items? Item 4 A is to wave full reading of ordinances on the agenda. Item 4 B is to receive and file the commissioner committee member attendance record. Item 4 C is to approve the September 10th, 2025 study session and regular city council meeting minutes. Item 4 D is to approve the administrative amendment to the city's fiscal year 2023 2024 community development block grant annual action plan to reallocate $43,124.76 in unused funds for the VIA Dansza Street improvement phase 3 project to the Whitewater neighborhood road improvement phase 2 project and authorize the city engineer to execute the administrative amendment for submission to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. velopment. Item 4E is to approve an not to exceed budget of 5,000 for the Cathedral City Festival of Arts event as recommended by the public arts commission. And that concludes the consent agenda.

Thank you very much. Are there any members of the public who wish to comment on any of the items on the consent agenda? I did not receive any request to speak forms on the consent agenda. Are there any members here who would like to comment on the consent agenda? I see none, mayor. Thank you so much. So, so just a point of order, our online agenda has an item F about a resignation from one of the commissions is Oh, and I do not have an F and I don't believe that was published. So, just to be clear, when we vote, we'll be voting voting um item A through E. No, we have E through F.

Understood. May pro Tim. We'll have that down in the record. Thank you so much. Thanks for catching that. I just now saw it. Some people have dock catchers. We have we have wonderful No, he's not. So, with that, I will I will move approval. I second. Okay. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim Gregory and a second by Council Member Carnivali. Please vote. And motion carries. All eyes.

Thank you so much. So next we have a public hearing. Public hearing a is an ordinance amending chapters 3.48, 5.5, 5.88, 8.108, and 13.240, the section 93030 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code to update the cannabis tax cannabis licensing and zoning regulations and enforcement provisions. That was a mouthful.

Mayor, before you start u on this item, I don't think we heard the agenda finalization. And if that's the case, I would like to uh make a motion to delay this item for 2 months to give all the residents of the Palm Springs Outdoor Resort an opportunity to actually come and expl uh say their concerns or hear the uh entire uh public hearing. Uh I'm not quite sure if the rest of the city council agrees, but I believe that uh it will be best if we serve all of the residents that are part-time and do reside adjacent to one of the facilities here and they are very vocal and they can actually give us an idea as to the ordinance is written the way it should or uh whether we should make some changes. So, uh, I'd like to make a motion to delay this for 2 months.

Well, I'd like to ask the city attorney if this, uh, if any part of this ordinance passes tonight, when would it come into effect? Isn't there some time limit there we would have? Well, it's an ordinance, so you'd have to introduce it tonight. I can't hear you, sir.

I'm sorry. it it since it's an ordinance, you would consider it tonight, have its first reading, assuming that you pass it for first reading. It would come back at your next regular council meeting for second reading and then go into effect 30 days after that. You do have the ability to continue the public hearing. You can start the public hearing and hear public comments tonight or you can just continue it over to another meeting, whatever you would like. So, I would recommend that we go forward and at least listen to public comment. Well, madam, we do have a motion on the floor. Yeah. Oh, yes, we do.

See if we get a second to the motion. If there's no second to the motion, the motion dies and we'll continue on. Is there a second? There is not.

Seeing no second, that motion is defeated and we'll continue with the presentation with your permission. Good evening, mayor, members of city council. Andy Finstein, and I'm here this evening to present a comprehensive series of amendments to the city's cannabis regulations. Um, there are many people here this evening. There have been many people that have participated throughout this process. The ordinance that is before you this evening is being recommended for approval by city staff. In steady, city staff's view, this is a balanced approach. It's a balanced approach that recognizes the interest of residents as well as the businesses that are in our community and the many cannabis businesses that we have in Cathedral City. The city's uh original ordinances for cannabis were adopted in 2017 and were last amended in 2022. Currently, the city has 59 cannabis businesses with 97 licenses. Of those 45 are operating businesses with 67 licenses and there are another 14 non-operating businesses with 30 licenses. Cathedral City has seen a large increase in the number of cannabis odor complaints. Uh beginning in the first quarter of 2024, the city had received 38 cannabis odor complaints. That increased significantly over the balance of the year. Between April 1st and December 31st, 2024, the city had over 900 cannabis odor complaints, including over 200 in November and over 500 in December. The complaints were reported across the city with a large number of complaints occurring in the vicinity of Deep Palm Drive and Raone Road. In response to those complaints, city staff took many actions. Uh, city staff engaged with cannabis enforcement staff in other Coachella Valley cities and with the Department of Cannabis Control. We evaluated cannabis odor regulations in many other cities. We increased staff training and created a cannabis

enforcement guide for use by our code enforcement officers. Uh those code enforcement officers initiated cannabis business inspections and initiated cannabis patrol routes to detect cannabis odor by city staff. We authorized overtime for code compliance officers to conduct evening patrols uh and as well partnered with the police department to collect additional data on odor detections. We've also required businesses to install additional cannabis odor mitigation. Despite these efforts, we continue to receive cannabis odor complaints and our own detections and continue to identify cannabis odor within the city. This led to the decision by this city council in January of this year to enact a 45-day initial moratorium on the approval of new cannabis licenses and conditional use permits and the issuance of building permits for the buildout or expansion of new cannabis businesses. That moratorium was extended on February 26th, 2025 by 10 months and 15 days. Under the moratorum, staff has evaluated the city's zoning, locationational requirements, definitions, standards, enforcement provisions, fines, and penalties. We've continued to conduct research on cannabis regulations in other cities and counties. We've also sought consultant support to bolster the staff efforts and to develop a supplemental resource on cannabis odor control. We have launched a cannabis odor reporting and monitoring pilot program that is in use today. And tonight we have a comprehensive ordinance amending the city's cannabis regulations, including cannabis tax, licensing, zoning, and enforcement. We know many of the comments, many of the complaints are directed towards business at Day Pal and remote Raone Road uh C4 industry. That's not the specific subject of the ordinance

tonight. Uh but I do want to note that uh we have also contracted with a subject matter expert on cannabis odor to work with the city to better understand the cannabis odor emissions at C4 industry and to provide a qualified opinion to the city on those odor emissions. C4 industry also has applied for a building permit to install additional odor control equipment. Beyond this, we have led a revocation of a cannabis cup for repeated code violations. Uh we have worked with the police department. This was an inspection of a property with a cannabis CUP that did not have a current cannabis license. Uh there was a report that there was illicit activity occurring within that property. And through the police department, the Coachella Valley Narcotics Task Force served search warrants for this property and another within the same business park, seizing over 10,000 cannabis plants. And the last bullet point, this is a result of the enhanced inspections that Code Compliance is performing. uh we have gone out with uh planning building fire personnel along with the county to conduct an inspection against a cannabis business for violations of the city's operational requirements. Uh the county also failed that business. So we have sought avenues, we have sought means of holding the industry and holding businesses more accountable for the cannabis odors and violations of the city's code. So, as a recap of information that's been shared with council, just to to give a sense of where we are today before we get into the amendments that are being proposed today, cannabis uses may be permitted as a conditional use in our PCC, CBP2, and I1 zoning districts, uh, including cultivation. The PCC zoning district, this is our most common commercial zoning district in the city. If you think of a shopping center, it's likely zoned PCC. It's typified by retail uses and are found throughout the

city. CBP2 and I1 those are more along the Perez corridor. Uh those are generally business parks, industrial areas in the city. This table gives a summary of the uses and the permitted zoning districts. I would note that uh you see mu mu n on here. Uh those are from the north city specific plan and the north city uh extended specific plan. uh that is not addressed directly in this ordinance. There was a separate ordinance adopted by the city council to permit cannabis uses within the north city specific plan and the north city extended specific plan. Um but you do see the I1 the uh uh CBP2 the PCC zoning uh and the allowance for dispensary cultivation manufacturing um distribution and testing labs in each of those zoning districts. So looking at the separation requirements that are in our code today and this is one of the areas where we have a gap. Um if you would look at uh residential zoning um we have a 250 ft separation requirement from dispensaries to a residential zone and 300 ft for cannabis cannabis cultivation manufacturing and distribution. When we look at resort residential uh we have a 250 ft separation requirement for dispensaries if it allows for outdoor consumption. There is no separation requirement for cultivation, manufacturing and distribution. Uh so that is a gap that we have in our code today. Um the resort residential zone that includes outdoor resort but it includes many other resort properties within the city and today under the code cultivation can go in immediately adjacent to one of those resort residential zoned properties. In our code today um this is in our zoning code. Uh this is a requirement uh for the approval of a conditional use permit. It establishes a no odor at the property line standard. Uh there is a requirement that cannabis businesses install an exhaust air filtration system with odor control. The issue that we

have with our code today is that there is no way to validate that. Uh so this is approved through the entitlement process uh long before a uh business uh an applicant is going through uh their construction drawings and is preparing the detailed mechanical plans for uh their their heating ventilation air conditioning systems. During the entitlement process, it's not often known exactly what odor mitigation what systems are going to be put in place by that business. So we have a requirement in the cup that a business provide ventilation system, provide some odor mitigation, but there's no check and balance. When a building permit is submitted, that mechanical plan set is reviewed against the California Building Standards Code, but there is no separate review to evaluate the effectiveness of the odor mitigation that's proposed by that business. That's another gap that we have in our code today that there's no validation, there's no verification of just how well uh does that design, how well does that system mitigate those cannabis odors. And then looking at our enforcement code that we have in place today, again, this is a no odor at the property line standard. Uh it is a nuisance and the code finds that it's a violation of the code for those cannabis odors to cross over a property line. Going back to the April 23rd study session presentation that we had with council. This was an update on our research, an update on uh the work that we had done. Uh we looked at um multiple other cities throughout the state and we also looked at the department of cannabis control regulations. We wanted to see if there was another city like us that was uh working through cannabis odor that perhaps had similar facilities that had uh cultivation facilities like ours that we could model that we could mirror. Um our first thought was let's look at the department of cannabis control. Let's look for another large

indoor cultivation facility like the one that we have in our city and see if we can mirror the regulations uh in that pier city. So we we did a a little bit of research with the DCC. We looked for any other large indoor cultivation uses within the state and we found that there are seven uh five of those are in Oakland, one is in Richmond and one is in Cathedral City. Only the facility here in Cathedral City was purpose-built. The others were all adaptive reuses of existing industrial buildings and they were not located in close proximity to residential areas. Uh I would add too that um perhaps with the exception of one of those licenses um none are comparable in size to the facility here in Cathedral City. Uh really what that means is that while Oakland has five of those large indoor cultivation licenses, there's another in Richmond. Um they're not essentially good models for us to mirror, good models for us to look at. Beyond that, we looked at um all cities and counties within the state that permit uh indoor cultivation. Uh we uh looked at 84 uh codes um researched 84 of those and found 15 cities and three counties that we wanted to look at a little bit further. Um all this material was shared with you back in April. Uh but we dug in to the the zoning and the enforcement regulations that were contained in those codes really trying to understand what those best practices were elsewhere in the state that we could draw from. Many of those um were instructive that they were informational. I would say the best examples are here in our own valley. Uh when we look at the regulations that are in place in Palm Springs, that are in Desert Hot Springs that are in Coachella those are some of the leading examples of cannabis regulations in the state. So to uh recap, these are the seven zoning questions that we uh asked as we

were going through that research of the 15 cities and three counties and then as well the uh enforcement questions. Um the material all of this is in your packet. I won't go through each individual response unless there are questions from uh council on on those. Um at that point we realized that we needed to draw in a subject matter expert. we needed additional support to build on the research that city staff had performed at that date. Uh so the city contracted with SCS engineers and they are present here this evening. Uh they are a subject matter expert for cannabis odor control. Um through that contract with SCS engineers, they built on the city's regulatory review and best practices assessment. They also worked with the city staff to prepare an odor control technology evaluation. Just what solutions are there? Just what systems might a cannabis business look at to mitigate a cannabis odor generated by the facility. They also worked with us to build out and develop an odor control permitting process. And this fills one of the gaps that we have in our code today. This is a a check and balance. This is a way of validating and verifying that a design proposed by a business is effective in mitigating its cannabis odors. Uh and also through that contract and and with uh council's adoption of this ordinance, um they will be working with us on the implementation of uh that odor control permitting process and and training our staff so that when we are performing inspections, when we are going out in the field, that we know what we're looking at. In your packet, uh, you have a complete report prepared by SCS engineers. Um, appendix A. I I want to draw, um, brief attention to this. Um, this describes odor and cannabis odors and it is an excellent work product and does a very good job describing just why cannabis

smells the way that it smells and some of the challenges. Um when we went into this research project, we were looking for objective means of uh identifying cannabis odors at the property line. And unfortunately, we're not able to uh find a sensor. There's not a technology solution today that is able to objectively define cannabis odor at the property line. But the the human u nose is able to detect cannabis odors very well. And I think much of what is in SCS engineers helps support that, helps support the enforcement of cannabis odors. So looking at the SCS engineers report in a little bit more detail. Um they've helped us realize that cannabis odor and our approach to this ordinance, it's not a one-sizefits-all approach. Um different uses generate different odor loads. um notably cultivation uh consumption lounges they generate more odor than a dispensary than a a um testing uh facility in manufacturing. It really depends on how that operation is prepared. So SCS engineers recommended to staff that we approach each use a little bit differently. We have different checklists in their report for um the odor control plans for each of those uses. And more importantly, rather than prescribe a solution in our code, rather than prescribe exactly what a business must install, uh they recommended a performance-based approach. And this performance-based approach really puts it into the hands of the cannabis business to say this is our use. This is the odor that the business generates. Um and and these are the administrative controls. These are the engineering controls that are proposed that that are designed specifically for that business to mitigate its odor. So through that approach through through an odor control plan, it is uh very specific. It's unique to that business and it allows the business to choose to select uh what odor control systems they want to implement and it provides a mechanism

for the city to review those systems to ensure that they're effective in mitigating the cannabis odor. An example of one of those is shown on this slide. Uh this is for cultivation and manufacturing. Uh so you'll see uh sections here that that describe administrative controls. Administrative controls. You you can think of that sort of as the management of a cannabis business, the oversight, the administration of uh those cannabis uh odor systems. Uh so maintenance um the the replacement of filters uh performing inspections all of those are administrative controls. So the odor control plan will describe what administrative controls a business proposes in order to manage its cannabis odor. Under the engineering controls you know those are the specific systems those are the filtration systems that are proposed by a business to mitigate that cannabis odor. Uh so just an example and that is contained in the report. So the the recommendation from SCS engineers again is that the city maintain a technology agnostic performancebased approach to odor control. Um this ensures that we are adaptive that uh as technology emerges that that we're able to uh respond and implement that uh and that it grants flexibility and choice wi within the industry. So, at this moment, I want to step into our ordinance. And I I know this is lengthy. We're going to spend a little bit of time getting into this, and I know we have a large audience, but I think as we get into the proposed ordinance, this demonstrates the balanced approach that we've taken to preparing the cannabis regulations. So, we are proposing to remove cannabis cultivation as a conditional use within the PCC zoning district. Uh so our

commercial zoning district, we would strike that as a conditional use. Uh moving forward, existing cultivation businesses in the PCC zoning district would become legal non-conforming uses. They can continue. Um there are limitations as a legal non-conforming use. Um but we would not see new cultivation uses in the PCC zoning district. It would remain as a conditional use in the CBP2 and I1 zoning districts. The ordinance also proposes a 300 ft separation requirement between cultivation, manufacturing, distribution sites and the resort residential RR zoning district in the same manner that uses are separated from residential zoning districts. So that creates equity between the two zones. There's also a modification to the standard conditions of approval. Uh so whereas before it generically referenced that a cannabis business was required to um provide um a filtration system, a ventilation system, uh it now requires an odor control plan and there are specific regulations for what goes into that odor control plan in the ordinance. So those odor control plans though they are added as a new section of the cannabis licensing code. the review of that cannabis odor control plan that's intended to evaluate its effectiveness to mitigate cannabis odors and the standard remains no odor at the property line. We have not changed that standard through the ordinance. There are additional changes to the license regulations. Um this will require existing cannabis businesses to obtain approval of an odor control plan as a requirement of their local license renewal beginning on January 1st, 2026. There is a caveat to that and I'll get to that in the enforcement section. It could happen sooner if uh we get u a cannabis odor violation uh before their

their license renewal date. The operational requirements for cannabis businesses are also uh amended uh to require uh cannabis odor control equipment be installed and operational prior to the commencement of operations. So, stepping into our enforcement provisions, uh, currently they declare persistent cannabis odor offensive to individuals of normal sensitivity and which adversely affect or unreasonably interfere with the use and enjoyment of property um across a property line, a public nuisance. Uh, so you detect cannabis odor at a property line, it's a public nuisance. The proposed changes maintain the standard. Uh what it does though, it uses the odor control plan as a basis for enforcement. So the odor control plan becomes that document that we pull out that a cannabis business pulls out when we get an odor complaint that is attributed to that business. We pull that document out and we're looking for what went wrong. And if we look at this graphic, uh this illustrates a couple of enforcement paths. So that upper line, that's where we want to be. We want to have odor control plans on file for cannabis businesses within the city. And in that case, when we get a cannabis odor uh complaint, there's there's a violation. Um we would handle that much like any other case. There there is a a warning given to that business. Um and they're given an opportunity to make corrections uh before we do anything else. So let's open up that odor control plan. Let's look at what the administrative controls are. Let's look at the engineering controls. Let's identify what went wrong and why we're detecting cannabis odor at the property line. The business is given an opportunity to take corrective action. And this is like any other code case that we have. We give them an opportunity to take corrective action. At that point, there's a reinspection. And if we determine that there is still cannabis odor detected at the property

line after that reinspection, it's at that moment that we may issue an administrative citation. the administrative citation in that first line, and we'll get to the fine resolution here in a moment. That's proposed at $1,000. $1,000 for that administrative citation. Currently, um the admin uh citation, the fine is set at $100. Um $1,000 is more. Yes. The intent here though is is to create more accountability, maintain the odor control plan, maintain the odor control systems. Um let's not generate cannabis odor complaints or violations. Moving down to the second category. In the second category, this is where a business does not have an odor control plan and they're required to have an odor control plan. Um, we recognize that prior to December 31st, 2026, um, some businesses may not have an odor control plan on file. If we receive an odor complaint and they have not filed it because their license renewal is not up yet, the clock starts. they have 30 days to submit an odor control plan to the city. If they fail to do that, that can lead to an admin citation as well. And then below that, this is an instance where um a business has chosen not to submit an odor control plan where they're required to submit an odor control plan or where they've failed to maintain that odor control plan. They haven't done the filter change outs. They they haven't done the maintenance that's required as part of their odor control plan. In that case, they have 30 days to fully comply, get current with the code, or that can lead to an admin citation. The admin citations in those cases are $5,000, and three or more citations in a 12-month period of time can lead to a finding of good cause for the revocation or suspension of a cannabis license. Um, there currently is language in the licensing code.

Did you say could or would? It would.

Would. Yes, there is language in the licensing code today that a citation under the code is a finding of good cause for the revocation or suspension of a license. Um, what the ordinance that is before you tonight proposes is clarification. It's clarification that through the enforcement process that is the ultimate penalty. We're not trying to get there. We're trying to use the odor control plan as a foundation for how to do it right, how to mitigate cannabis odor. Um, putting in place the systems, putting in place the controls that are necessary to mitigate cannabis odor so we don't have odor at the property line. There are steps though where if that standard is not met, there are corrections. um there are are means there are mechanisms to hold that business accountable to to make those adjustments starting with the admin citations and potentially leading to a finding of good good cause. Um and the last one on there is unlicensed activity and I I don't think I need to spend a lot of time on that in this presentation but if you don't have a a cannabis license for cultivation you're cultivating um that is an immediate citation. There are additional adjustments and changes throughout. As I mentioned at the onset of the presentation, our regulations are from 2017. They've been updated um recently, 2022, but not comprehensively. Uh so through this ordinance, there are some uh more comprehensive updates and changes proposed to the cannabis regulations. Uh so the local cannabis taxes must be current for all licenses held to a license held by a lency prior to renewing a license. uh dispensaries must be operational for at least one month prior to the renewal of a dispensary license. Uh and then there was some additional cleanup on the double penalty on the delinquent cannabis tax and uh the addition of specific code language authorizing a tax payment arrangement agreement.

So there are some elements that are in the SCS engineers report that are not included in the draft ordinance and I I do want to call those out. Um there were some buffer uh recommendations made by SCS engineers uh that uh were in the report. They were assessed, evaluated by city staff. Uh they were also debated and discussed at the planning commission uh hearing. That is a uh um a thousand foot buffer from residential areas and a 500 ft buffer between cannabis uses. Uh the challenge with those is it creates many nonconformities. Uh we do have a large number of cannabis businesses within the city particularly along Perez Road. If we were to apply a 500 foot buffer between those uh most of those would become legal non-conforming uses and a thousand foot buffer from residential would similarly create uh many non-conforming uses. The recommendations from staff in the ordinance uh really work at addressing cannabis odors, maintaining the no odor standard at the property line and propose eliminating cultivation from the PCC zoning district and in staff's estimation more directly address the issues at hand uh rather than adding uh the buffers. Uh the planning commission, as I mentioned, did discuss those and ultimately chose not to uh include those in their recommendation to the city council. Um there are some alternatives for the city council and there's some other items for the council to consider. Um so the ordinance recommends the removal of cultivation as a conditional use in the PCC zoning district. Um alternatively the uh total uh canopy space could be limited in the PCC zoning district. Uh just for instance a limit of 10,000 square ft. Uh while that would still create nonconformities, I think we would have uh three nonconformities out of uh five. Uh it could allow uh cultivation up to a small indoor cultivation license and it would also allow for cannabis

micro businesses. Those are state licenses, but um that could allow for smaller operations within the PCC zoning district. Um staff doesn't recommend that uh strictly from the standpoint that much like we have experienced cannabis odor issues between uh residential areas and cultivation even in a commercial setting you could have uh cannabis odor issues between other tenants in a multi-tenant commercial center and there is the possibility for that conflict. Uh so staff is recommending that cultivation remain within the CBP2 and the I1 zoning district and that's consistent with most other uh cities and counties that we evaluated. Um offh hand I couldn't point to another that allows for cultivation in a commercial zoning district. Um the last bullet on here this is recent legislation adopted by the state. Uh this is directed to cannabis lounges. Uh this is of interest to lounges in Cathedral City. Uh we chose not to include this in the ordinance before you because we're looking to address cannabis odors. Uh but this would create additional opportunities for cannabis lounges allowing for the sale of uh food and beverage as well as live entertainment. So that is um authorized. It's allowed by the state. Uh but cities have to opt in. Uh so that would need to be an amendment to the city's cannabis regulations. If that is of interest to the council or at least if there's an interest in discussing that, uh staff would recommend handling that on a separate track. Uh so I mentioned a uh fine resolution. We also have a fee resolution. Uh right now we don't have an odor control permitting process. We also don't have a fee for the review of an odor control permit. Uh so tonight you have a copy of the fee resolution in your packet. Uh this would be brought back when the ordinance is brought back for second reading uh for adoption. The amendment to the fee resolution u includes a

$4,264 fee for the review of an odor control plan for cultivation, manufacturing, or consumption lounge and a $760 fee for the review of an odor control plan for a retail dispensary distribution or testing lab. The difference between those, it would be staff's intent to refer out the review of the odor control plan for cultivation, manufacturing, or consumption lounges to a third party uh that is an expert in the review of a cannabis odor control plan really to ensure that we're getting the highest level review on the effectiveness of those odor control systems. Excuse me, Andy. That's a onetime charge. That is for the review of the odor control plan. Yes.

And then just out of curiosity, it seems like a lot of money, 4,264. How did you come to that uh equation? Sure thing. So, our our consultant SCS engineers has provided us a cost of $3,500 to review uh a cannabis odor control uh plan. Um that is to cover their costs and and the city would be looking to uh reimburse the direct costs it incurs. As well, there's uh staff processing time and inspection time. So, when we uh review and approve that cannabis odor control plan, it doesn't stop with the plan. We also go out, we inspect and ensure that the systems have been installed. So four hours of city staff time together with the cost that we incur from our company.

So what would the turnaround time be from for SCS to review a uh odor plan? Uh so we would be looking at a fairly quick turnaround on that. I don't have a date for uh I' I'd say 30 days. That that would be our goal. Um you know we have to work that out with SCS engineers. Um, if council is supportive of the ordinance tonight, we would begin the discussions on an amendment to our contract with SCS Engineers. And that is a point that we could raise to have uh specific turnaround times for the review of those plans. Because I'm kind of confused if you have to have the odor control plan or odor control equipment installed within 30 days and it's going to take 30 days just to review it. How does that work?

Right. So, the way that the ordinance is structured, the the 30 days is 30 days to submit the odor control plan. It's not I'm sorry I didn't get the 30 days to submit. Submit. Yes. Thank you.

Okay. So, looking at the fine resolution, I mentioned the fine of $1,000, $5,000 for the two different tracks. Um there are um some points here that I I do want to raise. There are um other changes made throughout the municipal code. Uh when we were looking at the cannabis regulations, we found that um our fine amounts for administrative citations were um strewn throughout the code. Uh one of the recommendations from our legal council was to consolidate that into a single section of code where we have a default fine for violations of the municipal code. That default fine is $100, $200, and $500. and really creating language that the council can adopt greater fines by resolution and then having a single resolution to document and track those fines. Uh so your resolution does refer to other fines that are already in the municipal code. This is a consolidation and a cleanup of the code while we're also looking to enact uh changes for the cannabis regulations. Uh so should the uh council set higher administrative fines in the future that would be an amendment to this resolution. There has been substantial public outreach and engagement over the course of this project. Uh the SCS engineers report uh a draft ordinance and a summary memo were all published on the city's website in July. Uh this was also shared with an email distribution group. really anyone that had submitted a cannabis odor complaint to the city that provided an email address. Uh we've continued to send updates to them including all of this material. Uh this was similarly shared with the Coachella Valley Cannabis Alliance Network CVAN and all email contacts associated with a cannabis license on file with the city. Cannabis task force met and discussed the proposed ordinance on August 18th.

They recommended its approval to the council on a 5-1 vote. Uh the planning commission met and discussed the proposed ordinance on August 20th and recommended its approval on a 4-1 vote. Uh there was a change recommended by the planning commission. This is section 23 of your proposed ordinance that limits cannabis cultivation canopy area to a maximum of 22,000 square ft as a condition of approval on future conditional use permits. Uh that would prevent another large indoor cultivation use from coming into the city. So, with that, I'll close out staff's presentation for the moment. Uh, staff is recommending that council adopt the ordinance tonight on first reading amending the Cathedral City Municipal Code, including the zoning ordinance, uh, to amend the cannabis tax licensing, permitting, and zoning uh, and enforcement regulations related to cannabis uses, and to amend various sections of the municipal code relating to administrative fines. With that, I'll close out my presentation.

Thank you very much. Council, I'm going to start with you. Basically, I just have one question. Could you on the cannabis task force? There's six individuals on the task force and and there were six present at the meeting. There just only six at this particular there's more. I I couldn't say exactly what the rep the representation has changed. There were six present at that meeting. And what qualifications did they have to be on this cannabis task force? Were they were they cultivators, dispensary owners, uh citizens, residents?

It's a mix and they're all appointed by the city manager. So there were represent uh representatives of the industry as well as residents. So I guess it would be fair to say that possibly there was no representation for different sizes of cannabis cultivation, small ones, large ones. There were dispensary operators uh there. I don't know that there was a cultivator present. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. For now, question.

Thank you, mayor. My question is you talked about separation requirements and you mentioned 300 ft separation for manufacturing, cultivation and distribution from uh residential resort or resort residential. Now, um I did not read or maybe I missed it that the 300 ft separation for dispensaries from restore residential. Do you have it in here? Because that's one of the issues that uh we want to prevent in the future from having um this um dispensaries near restore residential. So this is a slide that shows the current regulations and there is currently a 250 ft separation requirement for dispensaries if it allows for outdoor consumption. Um

yeah u but regarding resort residential for dispensaries correct specifically it's 250 ft for dispensaries from resort residential if the dispensary allows for outdoor consumption. Okay. So that will if if new dispensaries were to apply for a permit but they're within uh 250 ft from a residential resort or resort residential. If they're within 200 ft 250 they will not be allowed

if they have outdoor consumption. Um if they do not have outdoor consumption that that would not apply and that's the current regulation that's in the code. Yeah, that's one of that's well that's one of the um things that we talked about that we also wanted to include in this uh amendment to also include residential for dispensaries when it came to uh to u dispensaries.

So most of the comments and the complaints we've had have been from cultivation related to cannabis odor generated by u a cultivation use. We have not received complaints uh from residents about dispensaries uh adjacent to or in proximity to resort residential. That's that's new.

But I do have as a city councilman I have received specifically for the dispensary which is located on the corner of U Gerald Ford and Day Palm. I believe it was closed temporarily. uh the residents at Cathedral Canyon have complained to me regarding that and as a matter of fact they're also personal friends that have complained. That's one of the reasons why it came about to have this as part of this amendment to the ordinance and that's a change that the council could elect to make.

Okay. Um I'll make sure that uh we talk about it when it comes to when it comes to at that point. Thank you. But uh one one more thing. I want to thank everyone that participated in the update and all the work and all this all these hours that have gone on into uh this amendment because I know that it took numerous of hours a lot of people working on it. And I know that uh at one point we're not going to satisfy whether is the uh the uh cultivation or manufacturing uh owners nor the people that complain about it. But I'm sure this is a huge improvement and that we can actually if approved later on we can make changes to whatever if it's not working out the way it should we can make changes. If it's too strict, maybe we can loosen some of those some of those um uh regulations. And if it's not strict enough, we can enforce them in the future. So, this is not the end of it, but uh I I want to say that you have you guys have done a great job over the last eight months working on this. Thank you.

Thank you so very much. We have Mayor Prom has a question. So, thank you. I while he's on that, I would certainly echo the uh our thanks for all of the work that you and your staff have done in securing consultants and gathering all this information and doing the research and and coming up with the product that you've put in front of us today. I do have one question. This has to do with the planning commission's change the section 23 and the um limitation in all cases of any dispensaries being more than 22,000 ft. Where's the 22,000 ft come from?

Sure. So the 22,000 ft that comes from the state license. So that's the dividing line uh but with a uh a large indoor cultivation use. We have one large indoor cultivation use in the city. That's the uh use at Day Palm and Raone. Uh so the 22,000 threshold essentially would not allow uh any future large indoor cultivation licenses as defined by the state to come into the city. So is are you saying that's the state's maximum or do they have a license that's bigger than that?

Well, the uh large indoor cultivation use as defined by the state doesn't have an upper limit. It's anything over 22,000 ft. Uh so by establishing a threshold of 22,000 uh ft and we've seen this in other cities, we're essentially accepting uh cultivation licenses up to that point but not greater than that. So your proposed changes wouldn't allow would only allow new dispensaries in industrial zones and where else? It would allow cultivate dispensaries or cultivation. I mean cultivation. I'm sorry. We're talking about cultivation. It would allow cultivation in uh business park and industrial zoning CBP2 and I1 and that would be as a conditional use.

So that's looking at the map a lot of that is in the north of the freeway that would be large enough to have that type of a proposal.

So so much of the CBP2 and I1 is centered around the Perez road corridor. Although if we look at the table that is in the the presentation, I I can pull it up. Uh we do have allowances for uh cannabis uses in the north city specific plan and the north city extended specific plan. Uh much of that is zoned um mu and mun. Um there are some areas that are designated I1 as well. So um this would affect the north city specific plan and the north city extended specific plan. um those specific plans through the ordinance adopted by council have u separate overlapping cannabis regulations. They do refer back to chapter 9.108. Uh so where this ordinance is proposing um an additional a condition of approval on a conditional use permit for a cannabis use that would apply to a conditional use in the north city specific plan or the north city extended specific plan including that restriction on the total canopy area.

Right. So although we're here looking at issues, it seems like we are, as we've done before, we're trying to have some flexibility in the north city plan. And I hesitate to put a cap because that's different than the issues that we've been dealing with in our already developed areas. If someone was to come in and want to build a large cultivation facility in the north city, there are already separations um in place against all the different types of residential up there. So, it makes no sense to me that we would place that kind of limitation. So is that something that

if we amended that so that that did not apply the MU, the MN or MUN and the I1 in the north city, would that still allow that type of development to at least be considered? That may be an approach. And my suggestion perhaps would be to exclude the North City specific plan and the North City extended specific plan from that condition.

All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. We are all very appreciative of your time and your research. Thank you. So we have done our council questions. At this time I will open the public hearing. Are there and we know the answer any members of the public who wish to comment on this item? And madame clerk will you please facilitate?

Mayor we do have quite a few but first I will read one into the record that we did receive for the record. The following comment was received for the record, provided to the members of the city council, and made available at the entrance for public inspection. Trevor Hamlele expressed his concern related to the proposed ordinances. Proposed ordinance and I need you to speak up a little bit. You want me to repeat it? No, no, but just speak up a little bit. Moving forward, the first speaker is April Dominguez. Please approach the lecture. Good afternoon, Mr. Mun. Good afternoon. I guess it's evening, isn't it?

Good evening.

Good evening, mayor and council. Um, I'm coming up here today to express my um I guess fear in my facility where I work. I work at a um licensed cannabis business in here in Cathedral City. Um, I started working there, I want to say a little less than a year ago. Um, and um, I've been provided with a healthy work schedule. I've been provided with benefits. Um, not only does that support me, but it supports my family as well. And with these um issues, these um sorry with these uh odor complaints, it uh gives me great fear of the facility where I work shutting down and that will not only stop my support, but it will stop my family support. and I know a bunch of fellow co-workers as well who would not benefit from this movement moving forward. So, I just wanted to express or I guess um have you guys strongly reconsider um passing this uh law, I guess. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you for your time. Next, the next speaker is Maria Velasquez. Good evening, Miss Vasquez. Miss, I apologize. Um, would you like us to translate for the council?

Okay. Apologies, mayor. Okay. Okay. Okay. Um, my number is Maria Velasquez. My name is Maria Velasquez. Um,

uh, I I take care of four children. Um I so the children are dependent of of me and um the facility as well is dependent of me. My motivation for being here is because the industry opened up its doors for me. This industry has not only opened up doors for me but other individuals that I work with. and it's an industry that I would like to see continue.

Gracias. Thank you. Thank you.

Next, Mr. City Clerk. The next speaker is Jose Venuela. Is Jose here? Okay, we'll move on. The next speaker is Gustavo Ramirez. Good afternoon. Uh, thank you for letting me talk to you. I would like to see this industry continue.

This with this industry over 300 people are dependent of it.

We all have families and children. Uh the the industry provides us good paying jobs as well as support within the industry. Uh the industry does try very hard to not create any sorts of problems with industries surrounding it. Um, he he sees a lot of So he's saying that uh this industry is being asked to do so many things such as um you know reduce odor and that that there's always like attempts or challenges towards the that industry. I would like to see this industry stay there for a long time.

If this is in your hands, I I asked you to think about this because it's He has two children in the university. If he doesn't have that job, he doesn't know what he's going to do. He he wants to progress and and the industry is allowing him to do that. Thank you.

The next speaker is Luis Castro. Good evening, Mr. Castro.

Good evening. A little about myself. I am a local artist here in uh currently living in Palm Springs, but I've served the Cathedral City community for quite some time. Uh painted the Via Bakery on Raone and Cley once in 2013. another time 2020. I also painted the Lo Guerrero mural down the street on Chupa Rosa Lane. Um from my experience working with atrisisk teens through a program called Art with Heart, I've came to uh to a conclusion. A lot of a big denominator or one of the one of the uh common things they have amongst themselves is a lack of parental presence in their household. And I feel like not having a good job is one of those reasons. you're kind of spreading yourself so thin across multiple jobs either in the service industry, working restaurants, hospitalities, um, and things just kind of spiral downward from there. Just like the previous people and multiple people tonight will tell you, their families do depend on this job. And I'm standing here asking you folks not or to reconsider moving this ordinance forward because a lot of people's livelihoods are going to be affected by this. Thank you. [Applause] The next speaker is Megan Peterson.

Good evening, Miss Peterson.

Good evening. Um, tonight I just like to offer a different perspective on the smell. I grew up in an agriculture area to where my high school was surrounded uh three sides by strawberry fields. So 90% of our days they smelt like manure. We didn't really have a say about it, but it was an important part of our city and our like just day-to-day life. Um, there's really no difference between that and the cannabis. Smelling the smell does not infect your day-to-day life. We work around it on a day-to-day basis. Um, you're not going to get high off the smell. So, it really doesn't affect your time outside. If you don't want to smell it, you know, go somewhere else. There's a whole there's like you said there's beautiful parks in the city. Um yeah, that's it. Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Angel Virgin. I didn't get his last name. Stay clin. Sir, can you state your name?

Good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Angel Virhen and I want to bring up what the person previously just said about agriculture. For me and my family, most careers we went into agricultural. That's what our career careers depend on. And really the main difference between agricultural and specifically cannabis industry is really just the odor which is the main topic that this is really about. Right now just like she previously said um I grew up around smelling manure and realistically if you're a resident after a day or two living there you won't smell it anymore. You get me? I really only think it's the people passing by or only being here temporarily who mostly get the concerns. And uh to just leave it as my conclusion, odor and smell to my knowledge doesn't do as much harm. Taking away people's jobs does. Thank you. Thank you, sir. The next speaker is Aaron Chambers.

Good evening, Mr. Chambers. Good evening.

Hello, council members and mayor. My name is Aaron Chambers. I've been working for Live Happy for a year and a half. I relocated from Riverside to Cathedral City and I would like to say that this is a wonderful city for retirement for my father and it's been a great city for my son as well. He has shown major improvements in Cathedral City. He's found employment with Stater Brothers. Um C4 live happy has made tremendous um improvements in my life. I uh need to progressively move forward in my life and be a great example to my son and C4 has given me the opportunity to grow professionally. So I appreciate the opportunity to grow here in the city. Thank you very much.

Thank you sir.

The next speaker is Hubert Porz. Good evening, sir.

Good evening, mayor and uh city me city council members. My name is Herbert Poras. Um I serve as the manager of postprocessing at live happy. Um I want to I'm writing to you not only as a representative of the company, but as someone who's seen firsthand the impact this business has had on lives of over 250 employees and their families. We are currently facing the possibility of a shutdown due to order complaints neighboring properties. While we understand and respect the concerns of the community, I kindly ask that you also take into account the voices and livelihoods of many individuals who call live happy their second home. I've had the privilege of working at Live Happy for nearly 2 years. In that time, I've grown into a true young professional with within a rapidly evolving industry. The cannabis sector has long been misunderstood, often unfairly stigmatized or outright criminalized. What we are witnessing now feels like history repeating itself. This company was built from the ground up by a diverse and hardworking team. And for many of us, it represents more than just a job. It's a lifeline. I've heard countless testimonies from employees who have come overcome financial hardships, found purpose, and finally feel like they're in the right place in life. The consistency and stability provided by Live Happy are rare in our region where full-time year-round employment is not always easy to come by. There's a common misconception that those in the cannabis industry lack professionalism or drive. In reality, we are some of the hardest working individuals you'll meet. We're farmers, technicians, managers, and more committed to doing things the right way. This facility supports over 250 families and indirectly many more. The potential loss of our license and closure of this facility would be devastating not only to the employees but to the broader community that benefits from our presence. I urge the council to weigh this impact alongside the concerns being raised. We are more than willing to work together on solutions to address the odor issue

and improve conditions on everyone involved. Our ask is simple. Let us uh let us find a balanced path towards uh forward that supports both the quality of life and our neighbors and continued operation of a business that has brought stability, opportunity and pride to so many. Thank you for your time and attention. Have a good evening. Thank you, sir. The next speaker is Abraham Reyes. Good evening, Mr. Reyes. Good evening.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Abraham Reyes. I've been working for C4 Industries for about a year now. C4 industry has proved to be a lifeline for many of us. All a lot of us are Cedar residents and this has provided us steady source of income year round. Because we know many jobs in the valley are seasonal and C4 industry is a company that not only is providing a stable job for all of us but also is willing to invest time and resources in local talent. Not many companies are willing to do this and that's something I've seen uh firsthand. As many of my co-workers there is fear when we hear all these restrictions. So what we ask from you today is to take into consideration how C4 industries has helped the valley locals and how many all these new limitations will impact hundreds of local households. Please allow us to keep our doors open and please allow us to keep providing for our loved ones. Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Will Melson. Good evening, Mr. Mendlesson. Good evening.

My name is Will Mendlesson and I've been in the cannabis industry for about 12 years. And what they have achieved here at C4 is beyond remarkable. Many of you guys might not know, but California is the stamp of marijuana in the world. and C4 is the largest facility in this state and it's in your city. That should come with great pride and it comes with great responsibility. Within all of this, we haven't just employed 300 people. We have made a community. You're seeing a portion of them, but what you're not seeing is the families and everybody else they are supporting within it. It brings great revenue as we all know that helps your city directly and all the homes. What I greatly want us to do is take a look at what this would mean for for not just us, but Cathedral City as a whole. I see up there it says moving Cathedral City forward. Does this move you guys forward or is this going to put you guys back? Thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir.

The next speaker is Roger Latu. [Applause] Good evening, Mr. Lu.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members. I'm going to speak a little differently tonight. I'm here on behalf of C4 Industries, the employees, but more importantly, our entire community. I want to thank the city for the efforts to improve the governance and odor management. We share the goal in fair and science-based regulation, but the ordinance as written creates serious risk. Risk that could weaken our economy, reduce jobs, and discourage investment. Firstly, the three strike clause. The three strikes rule sounds simple, but it creates an unpredictable environment. License could be suspended with just a few complaints and when even when standards are subjective. This sends the wrong message to investors that Cathedral City is a risky place to invest. And when investment dries up, so do jobs, business growth, and the tax base. Let that sink in. Odor as a misdemeanor. Treating odor as a misdemeanor is an extreme approach. As others have mentioned, other industries produce odor. Odor is not hazardous under OSHA, nor the EPA or state regulators. Criminalizing it puts operators and employees at risk of unfair criminal records. This harms reputations and makes Cathedral City look unreasonable to investors. Furthermore, the economic impact cannabis is one of the few industries that provides stable, high-paying jobs, and reliable tax revenue. This ordinance risks reducing funding for community services, loss of good jobs, a competitive

disadvantage versus nearby cities with friendlier policies. It hurts us. Canopy restrictions proposed limits and blocks growth. They prevent e economies of scale such as ours, new product development, and furthermore jobs. The result is clear. Businesses like ours, C4, and others in the community will look elsewhere to expand their opportunities. As far as the subjectivity and fairness, the ordinance relies on subjective odor standards. It opens a door to unequal enforcement where cannabis is punished while odor producing industries are not other odor producing industries. As mentioned, this undermines the fairness and trust that we all believe in. Council members, I understand the intent, but as written, the ordinance risks discouraging investment, reducing jobs, and weakens the economy overall. Cathedral City has a chance to lead with balanced science-based rules. Rules that protect the community while also supporting responsible growth.

Thank you, sir. Your time is up. Well, I'm through. Thank you. The next speaker is Karen Jessine. Lesman. Hello. Please state your name for the record, ma'am. Good evening, Miss Jman.

Thank you so very much for having us here tonight. We all really appreciate it. My name is Karen Lustman. I'm the HR manager at C4 Industry, otherwise known as Live Happy. And uh I've been with the company now for about a year and a half. I've been in the cannabis industry for 12 years. First as a recruiter, then as a business owner, and now the HR manager. I chose to be in cannabis about 12 years ago because this plant cannabis helped me recover from a very debilitating neuro uh neurogenerative disease. I am living proof that cannabis is truly medicine. I was given the opportunity to help build this company and at this point uh we are now 277 people. When I first started, we were 50. Now, besides that 277 people, we will at any time bring in another 90 or so people to help us trim the beautiful flower that we grow. We also bring in people who have hair that is my color. Casual pool seniors who would like to come in and occasionally work for a day. Number one, to feel relevant. number two to make some more money and number three just to shock the kids and tell them what they're doing. So, it's great fun. Our seniors love coming in the door and they help us out and we give them a little bit of income. This has been the most challenging role I've ever had in my life, but it's also been the most fulfilling. I've never been in in any position like this with such incredible growth. Um what we are offering our employees is not only a

stable income but we also offer them opportunities for advancement. We offer them medical insurance, health, vision, 401k and training training training. It started when one of our managers started giving English as a second language classes on his own time to people who wanted to learn English. Um then from there it grew. I had been in touch with the college of the desert. They worked with us and we were uh presented with a $65,000 grant to educate our employees at C4. We're absolutely delighted. Our people have been trained on everything from, you know, what motivates you to stress management to how to get through a day, uh, harassment, discrimination, everything else. And they love the training. When we first started the classes, we asked who all had been through this type of training before, and there was nobody in the group who ever had. We are giving these people opportunities to learn, which is huge. We also en encourage everyone here to be good citizens here in Cathedral City. Um, we want to be good neighbors. We talk to our neighbors. We do what they Thank you so much. Your time is up.

Okay. Sorry. Thank you.

The next speaker is Anthony Frick. Good evening, Mr. Frick. Good evening, members of the city council, mayor. My name is Anthony Frick and I'm a proud employee of C4 Live Happy, a licensed cannabis business in Cathedral City. I've been working in the industry for 5 years. And for me, it hasn't just been a job. It's been a foundation for my future. The stability and the good pay I've earned here allowed me to go back to school. And now I'm uh working hard as an electrical apprentice. Uh this job is the reason I could take a step forward in my life. Um I'm strong. I'm a strong provider for my family. This role is absolutely critical to our stability. It helps us pay for our housing, plan for the future, and thrive in this community. That's why I'm so concerned about this proposed ordinance. Tying a business's license to subjective odor complaints under a three strikes rule creates a constant fear. my career, my apprenticeship, my family security could be jeopardized by an unfair standard that isn't applied to other industries. If I were to lose this job in the middle of my training, it would be devastating. It would be incredibly difficult to find other work uh without more experience, setting my family and me back significantly. We are all willing to work fair and follow fair objective regulations. But I urge you to consider the real

impact of all the workers and their families before passing rules that would threaten the livelihoods with subjective enforcement. Please don't take away the opportunity for people like me to build a better life. We're going to we're going to need to take just a quick pause. I don't know if you noticed that, but our clock quit working. And we want everybody to get every second of the time they have owed to them. What do we need to do? I'm going to go ahead and we'll start this one, but I'll keep I'll keep time as well.

We'll have time on the side as well.

Yes. Melanie Porus. Good afternoon. I guess it's evening, Miss Porus. Yes. Good evening, honorable mayor and council members. My name is Melanie Poras and I'm a supervisor in the post-processing department at C4 Industry. I've worked here for over a year now and as you've heard from others, this is more than just a job to us. It's a community. We're proud to be a company that reflects the diversity of Cathedral City. Our team includes people of all backgrounds, working-class parents, young professionals, agricultural scientists, and longtime locals. All of us are committed to doing this work the right way. We take pride in running a clean, compliant facility and being a positive part of Cathedral City year round. That's why the new ordinance changes, especially the three strike odor rule and canopy limits are so concerning. Even when we follow every rule, wind shifts, equipment malfunctions, and one incident shouldn't threaten over 300 jobs. The canopy limit also makes it hard for us to grow and stay competitive. Less production means fewer hours, fewer jobs, and less revenue for the city. We also would like to challenge the outdated stigma around cannabis. We're part of a legal, regulated industry that brings real value and good jobs to this community. We are professionals and we are committed to changing the dialogue surrounding the cannabis industry. I humbly ask that the council reconsider these policies and work with us to find fair solutions that protect both neighborhoods and hardworking families of C4 industry. Thank you for your time.

Is that going to work for you, Miss City Clerk? I'm keeping time. Mayor jump three to 3 minutes and 8 seconds. Who knows what's going I'll keep time and I'll let you know. We're working on it. The next speaker is Jose Achieves. Good evening, Mr. Seavis. Is that how you say your last name? As a nice

Good evening, council, and good evening, mayor. Um, I'm going to start off a bit personal. Um, I've only been in the industry for about two years. I'm originally from um, Los Angeles and I relocated to work at C4. Uh, previous to C4, I actually worked at Starbucks for about 5 years. As many of you know, if you walk into the Starbucks, it smells like coffee strongly. If you leave that Starbucks and you work there for about 8 hours, you smell like coffee. Um the same can be said about the majority of the staff um that works at C4 and once they leave the facility we've already had incidents where some of the employees are detained based on the odor alone and that raises concerns now especially seeing the various ordinances regarding can cannabis. Um I do fear for myself, my family, my employment, um friends. And it's very unfortunate because C4 has strived to create a culture to not only cultivate plants but to cultivate opportunities for the community in collaboration with College of the Desert, in collaboration with the casual pool that we have of people just looking to make some extra money and join us. And I do fear if council does not reconsider these

these ordinances that over 300 people will be affected including the community. And I do respect uh your guys's mission and values with commitment and pride and excellence leading Cathedral City forward. And just as this meeting was started celebrating about the achievements that's being done in Cathedral City, we'd love to continue to collaborate and continue to provide to this city who has opened its doors to us, to me, because I did relocate out here in a time of need. And as some of the individuals spoke, this is a lifeline for many individuals here.

Thank you, council.

The next speaker is Lewis Lesman.

Good evening, Mr. Lesman. Good evening, council, Miss Mayor. Nice to see a lady in position of authority. There you go.

Um, I am not an employee of C4, uh, but my wife is, so I've learned a great deal about it. I immediately enjoyed and respected the company because who else would hire a 70-year-old gay-haired woman claiming that she knows HR inside and out? David did. And now it's like family for her. It's a It's a hell of a great company. Excuse my profanity. I um I hope I have a couple of questions for the gentleman that did his presentation. So if you could consider that during my time.

Sir, there's is not a time for questions and answers. The mayor may ask a question of staff.

Okay. Then I would um be interested since the presentation included a number of uh the number of complaints during 2024 um that you consider are the same volume of complaints coming in in 2025 because I know during those nine months significant progress has been made. I have a very sensitive nose. I can smell I if an ant breaks wind in Tucson, I'll know it. And because my wife and I um carpool, I have been driving back and forth to this facility for a couple of years. And it used to be a very strong order emitted, but now I, you know, I don't smell anything and it's been months and I'm very uh uh cognizant of that. So the more current information you have, I think might help uh affect your judgment. Uh another question is there is a facility that C4 planned to build. I don't know if that's still under consideration, but I did see in the presentation that there are parameters that are uh being recommended to keep the aroma away from the uh community that abuts it. But um if they could move perhaps the functions that create the odor to the second building, that would perhaps enable them to keep the odor farther away from the community next door. Just something to consider. I'd hate to see the opportunity for them to construct the second building uh taken away from them if perhaps it might address the

solution. Anyway, thank you very much for your time and your consideration. Thank you, sir.

The next speaker is Kevin Spring. Good evening, Mr. Spring.

Good evening. I've chosen to leave my notes behind. Speak from the heart. Um, what a heartfelt meeting, heartfelt efforts that went into preparing a solution and a heartfelt council. Certainly, I really admire this town for that. Um, it seems, you know, I I have to admit I come from both sides. I'm a resident here in Cathedral City and I'm also in the cannabis industry. I'm a distributor. I actually just recently started a project called Distro Depot where we turned a previous cultivation into a distribution center and I came here quite honestly for my own selfish request but I'll save that for about the last 15 seconds of my talk if you could flag me at that time. Um, I really want to speak to well compliments to Andrew Firestein, Manuel Roachcha, Patrick Bumstead and the efforts that go on here and to you as well. You're here in your community and you're showing real care. Um, I want to say that I don't think there's any mistakes being made currently. Nobody's pointing at cannabis as the problem. Nobody's pointing at uh C4 as doing anything wrong or these hard workers as doing anything wrong. There's really not mistakes being made. I think with the report that came out, zoning was a mistake and that was made a long time ago and there's a solution. So, I'm a man of faith and I'll I'll just rely on that that you guys will look out for your community and do the right thing. But um it's been a long time with cannabis near residents uh being a problem and I I trust you'll be able to fix that. So I wish you well in that if I'm maybe near my last few seconds. I'm not sure. Well, I won't ramble on, but let me get to that selfish point if I might. Um as I said, I'm in the cannabis industry. A lot of efforts went into our

odor control plan. I think we submitted one of the highest tech odor control plans and we're just basically the pencil pushers of the industry. We're a distributor. In fact, with the first study that came up, distribution wasn't even on there. Um, it's because we are not much of an odor producing business. However, we put efforts in. come from 7 years in Palm Springs where 1500 LC taught us how to make a well-gineered odor control plant. And we did that for our new facility over on Sun Air. But at the last minute, we were told to put in air curtains. Air curtains are the things that keep the flies out of restaurants often. And I bought these air curtains and they're sitting right by the door. And we're about to install them and we're shaking our head going, "This isn't part of the engineering plan."

15 seconds, sir. So, a lot of science goes into making negative air pressure. And we did that. And as we're about to hang these air curtains, like I said, we're shaking our head. I asked that though, were you consider curtains as something that pushes air outside the building? This doesn't go with the science of odor control. So, I'd like to not hang those air curtains. I'll That's three minutes. Thank you. [Applause] The next speaker is Jose Mez neck.

Good evening, Mayor Consul. My name is Jose Max and um I am here um I'm actually an employee of C4 industry. I have been for a couple of years now. I also moved from the LA area to Cathedral City. a little reluctant at first because of the heat, but uh here I am. And I actually love the city and uh I'm actually here to speak on behalf of myself, but also on behalf of hundreds of people uh who are my my co-workers. Uh people who spend time spend money at the stores at the local stores, people who eat in the local restaurants. um people whose children go to the local schools, people who pay taxes in the city, and may I add, people who actually vote in the local elections. So, we're talking about not just a building, not just smelly plants. We're talking we're talking about people's livelihood. People who have found at C4 industry a place where they can actually put food on the table every day for their families including myself. I can tell you I feel blessed to have found a job at C4 industry because a person like myself is very hard to find a good paying job. So it is very concerning to all of us these new ordinances that are being considered. Um I think and if I may again very humbly express my um opinion that this conversation has been very lopsided. I think that we have to

actually think about the people that we are affecting with these ordinances. Um unfortunately most of the time people like myself, people like my co-workers, um workingclass people are the ones who end up paying the price at the end of the day. So I would encourage you to reconsider and uh help. Listen, I would also like to go enjoy an ice cream and a good meal on um Hispanic Heritage Months, but I can't do that if I don't have a job. And if we're speaking about solving the homeless issues in the city, I think that putting people out of a job does not help that situation. So I do please ask you to reconsider and let's come up with a solution that would benefit everyone. And like you said, maybe not everyone's going to be happy with the results, but we have to find a middle ground. It seems to me like nowadays it's either one way or the other but never a middle ground. It's time for us to start finding middle ground because otherwise we are all going to be in trouble. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

The next speaker is David Bernard. Good evening, Mr. Bernard.

Yeah, good evening. Uh good evening, mayor. Good evening, uh, city council members. I'd like to thank the staff, uh, first of all, for coming in tonight and making your voice heard. I think it's very important that there's context to the discussions that we've had over the last year and a half. Uh, you know, a couple things to clarify. The concerns are not whether the ordinances are needed. Uh we've all agreed we've actually worked with the city for a year and a half to help develop the ordinance. I think the things that are concerning are some recent uh additions to the ordinance that are somewhat vague and you know provide an opportunity for people that are somewhat aggressive to the business to put pressure on city council. And we don't see framework within the ordinance to provide stability to our employees or to our business. And you know, it's not to revisit the whole ordinance. It's to understand the things that maybe need more clarity and the things that could have lasting impacts on the industry. Um the things that, you know, some of the, you know, the speakers here tonight have have alluded to, the three strikes rule. Um Andy's workflow provides some context but in the the the written ordinance it does not provide that that layer of detail. And so when you you know interpret that which all code is interpretable, there are some things that create huge exposure for us as a business which we have educated our staff on. And you know I think it is a valid concern and I think it should be considered uh you know with the understanding that the ordinance is still needed just within the proper framework. uh the addition of a misdemeanor

uh in section 16, which again is very vague. The way that we've read that, it somewhat, you know, alludes to any violation within section 16 will be considered a misdemeanor. That's uh any administrative citation. Uh there's, you know, a list of other things that that would, you know, include. For me personally, you know, I'm I'm concerned about having multiple misdemeanors on my record. I've worked very hard to be in the position that I'm in and to think that we want to reinvest in the city and we want to, you know, pull people from other jobs. I mean, that's a lot of the things that we've done is we've taken employees that we've seen talent in and we've brought them to us. And to know that there's some instability in their future, I feel somewhat guilty personally taking that responsibility on knowing that we do not have stability in the industry now. And you know, again, I I appreciate the work that Andy's done. I know it's hard work. I know, you know, no one will ever be happy and we're, you know, okay with that. I mean, we're not asking for much. We understand that there's work that needs to be done. I can say personally that we've invested.

So, that's your three minutes. Thank you. There we go. Thank you. Thank you, sir.

The next speaker is Michelle Long. Good evening, Miss Long. Hello.

Hi. Uh, my name is Michelle. I also go by Abby. Um, hello, council. Um, I've been with this company for about a year. I commute every day from Yaka Valley. I used to be a resident here in Cathedral City. I worked at a dental office right across the street. I was a dental health educator. So, I would educate the YMCA, the Boys and Girls Club. Um, so I commute because there's not much job opportunities up there. So many folks come down from the high desert uh to find jobs here. I'd like to explain my concerns on the possibility of this company being shut down due to the understanding complaints of our neighbors. As an individual raised by a Christian woman whose beliefs on cannabis are very strong, I have respect and understanding with the people who don't view cannabis in a good light. I know I must find ways to respect my mom when visiting her after I get off work. I try to mask the smell. I bring extra clothes to change into. She understands though that I need this job. I've noticed even in the locker room, other women do the same. After work, a lot of them have to pick up their children from school. They have to go to the store, the bank, etc. We are aware that not everyone enjoys the smell of cannabis. But we do our personal best to make others less uncomfortable. Not to forget that we ourselves are made uncomfortable by others when we come across in public. The stairs, the comments of the smell that lingers on us, it's part of it. Cannabis has had a stigma for decades. But the scent is part of the job and this job I enjoy and it pays my bills. But it is just the aroma that we are talking about that brings discomfort to some. It's not a toxic fume. It's not a form of waste that's getting into our water system. Like for example, many farm crops that have toxic waste that seeps into the

water source is a big problem worldwide. When dealing with these huge industrial companies that are putting toxins into our air, soil, and water, I would go help them fight because that situation is physically harming people. Our company is very good at keeping our building and surrounding areas up to health and code compliance. There is no physical nor health harm being done to our surrounding neighbors. As far as the code ordinance proposal, we need professionals on that end understanding cannabis. Heat of the desert can cause more order. We live in a very windy area. That wind will travel and move the cannabis smell even farther. Um, I just ask that you make decisions that will not be a complete attack on this facility and a shutdown that seems inevitable with this gentleman's proposal. I have faith that you will find a proper and fair decision based on locals concerns on the order. I would like to end with this is more than just a job. It's a place of peace for me from my personal life where I have been going through a tough time.

Thank you. That's your three minutes. Thank you.

The next speaker is Melissa Fox. Good evening, Miss Fox.

Good evening, council. You have had uh quite a lot of information sent to you today, and I don't mean to take more of your time. just briefly want to make one point that I hadn't heard made. I'm former council member from the city of Irvine. I moved to this wonderful valley uh in the pandemic and we too have struggled a lot with cannabis ordinances. I the one thing that I hadn't heard pointed out that I did want to add is that specifically when there's a measurement or an attempt to measure the emission of odors, it has already been admitted that it's very very subjective. There is no objective definition. And then to base uh a misdemeanor on something that cannot be objectively defined seems to me very problematic and lacks due process. Um, so I I totally understand what you're doing. I just think that that this uh needs a little more baking and particularly in the area of misdemeanors. You've heard a lot of great testimony tonight. I know your job is very hard balancing so many residents and I really appreciate the great work that you're doing. Thanks so much.

I believe that is all the speaker forms that I received. Did I miss anybody? [Music] So we we do have four members. Okay, sir. Go ahead and thank you. My name is State your name for the record. Michael Crow. Good evening, Mr.

And uh I had the privilege of exercising signing a petition back in 1985 for the legalization of cannabis in California in the great state. Finally in 2018 decided to do that. And uh I've been working in the uh cannabis industry since 2018. and it's provided a home car. I've been able to work with my sister and uh look after my 90-year-old mother, which is important that we have her at home and that kind of thing. This company C CH 5 is a a wonderful company to work for. um when you come about smells and things like that and legislation. I guess we've been legislating on cannabis since uh 1619 it would appear with the Jonestown uh cannabis laws. And of course we've come we're all full circle now. And I just want to ask the council not to um be hoodwinkedked into uh the negative um what's the word I'm looking for? The the negative uh uh prejudice against cannabis is what the word I'm looking for. the prejudice of the smell because I grew up in Imperial Valley where we had the cattle feed, the holly sugar, the nitrogen plants, there's smells, there's dickies barbecue, we could nerf the world. So, I'm just asking you to understand that we have a wonderful opportunity for the city of Cathedral City. I'm also benefiting from being in this industry and ask you to consider those things and not be prejudiced in uh the connotations of cannabis. It's a wonderful thing. My

mother uses the CBDs. She suffers with Alzheimer's, but it's all good. And I thank you for your time and your consideration. Mayor, we do have one final speaker. We have one final speaker, sir. Good evening, sir. Please state your name.

Good evening, council members and mayor. My name is Michael Mcloin. I have been a resident of Cathedral City all my life. I I take very commitment of pride and exhilarance in my city and my my full meaning and everything has been to excel and help in my community. as my last name McGloin, my mother Shauna McGloin. I have been here helping her in the city. I am very familiar with all your faces. I thank you very much for everything that you all do for this city. And I am I am so proud of my company that I work for, C4 of Happy. I have met tremendous amount of people and they are very excellent people, very hardworking people. And I want to also speak for the 70 people that I spoke to before even coming here. They weren't able to come here because they had a second job or they had to take care of their family. I even had to go pick up my kids and still make time to get here. And I just want to uh voice my opinion that I have all of them behind me who are not here because we would all be standing in the hallway ready to speak for this company. I'm I'm sorry for the odor smell that, you know, we are producing for next door, but I hope that we can find a way to move forward and get that cleared up because we have a lot of families that uh depend on this company and what we're doing for the community. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. So, I'm asking at this point for comments from our council. I will start down here. Council member Lamb, do you have any comments at this time? Thank you, Council Member Carnival. Yeah, sure. You always come over to me, don't you? No, I went to her first. Oh, yeah. This threw me in real quick, but uh I got Cuz I like you.

Thank you. I like you, too. Oh, wow. This this was uh very emotional and uh interesting to say the least. You know, I took some notes uh that I found uh very heartfilling. Job security, great pride, food on the table, children going off to college, seniors employment. I know. I know what you mean. 75. I can't find a job. I got to work for myself, you know. Uh uh it's insurance, 401k, savings. Uh gentleman was very emotional. Uh it's uh good to see emotions. I'm Italian. I get very emotional as well. Uh relocations come from Los Angeles up here coming to the city to work here. you know, uh when when council let uh this property become a a cannabis site, definitely that was the wrong place to put it. I I mean, especially something so big being new in the industry. Uh I don't think the builders of this building knew what the heck they were doing. I think there was just a just a mess there and and it has been. And then now we got a company that comes up here and uh reads our ordinance and applies, invests millions of dollars, has vision, uh puts people to work uh bringing in taxes, which is important. Uh I don't want to talk about taxes. I mean, that's how the city makes our money. Uh definitely. And then uh C4 had no idea that this place was inadequate and not sealed properly. I also know that the smell is really, you know, offensive. It doesn't hurt you, but it it it's annoying. I I got that. But like this one gentleman said, I I find it getting better. I used to drive by there 12 times a day rolling my window down, sticking my head out the

window and say sometimes it was not bad. Sometimes it was pretty bad. But, uh, I truly believe that C4 is trying to correct the problem. Now, this cannabis ordinance that Andy put a lot of time and energy in. He did a very good job with his staff. But there's a couple things in here that I just think that Cathedral City is better than uh what this ordinance is going to uh uh imply. If if uh uh you come to this city in a great uh and accept the responsibility with the business and then we switch horses in the middle of the stream, we say, "Okay, now you know all the millions you invested or thousands of dollars to a smaller cultivation. Uh you know, three strikes and you're out." I mean, we're better than that. We we're not going to put anyone out of business. We want people to stay in business. I'd like to see this ordinance restructure uh how it would uh correct the uh situation that we have now. The odor mitigation plan, that's very good. Let's give that a try. But if that doesn't work, we got to keep trying. We just can't say, "Okay, you're out of here, man." You know, that's it's over with. Uh I think uh it's going to take time and especially in a in a site this large. Uh, you know, I think maybe gets more complaints by a residential area because in the industrial area, uh, you know, no one complains there. I mean, there you got mechanics over there working on all kinds of different things. So, you know, I would really really like to reconsider and have this council ask staff not to approve the three strike uh, situation. Uh, put something there. Find them, you know, if you want to hurt them in the pocketbook. Hey, man. It's 5,000 bucks. That's going to give good incentive to get this job done. And uh it might take some time, but we're not quitters. Cathedral City's never been uh quitters. And and I think uh C4 is in the same situation. Uh they

got a lot of people working there. A lot of responsibility on C4's shoulders right now. Uh sticking up for outdoor resorts. Yeah. I I if I live there and I find it annoying, I'd say something too. I, you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't be quiet about it. But, uh, you know, they're retiring. Let's give these people a chance to work and make money and so they can retire too, you know. But, uh, we the problem has to be solved, folks. I mean, you work there, you you make money there, you love to your employee and your friends, but the situation is you got to we got to stop this order. So, uh, I'd like to see that, uh, council recommend possibly another, uh, way to put the pressure on this odor mitigation without this three strike and this, uh, nonsense of, uh, misdemeanor. I I mean, I talked to the city attorney about it. I I Where did that come from? You know, next thing you know, you're going to uh, somebody's going to be offended because of it, Dicky's barbecue. Okay. So, let's uh let's rethink this a little bit. The zoning, I think, is spot on. Uh uh the variances is spot on. Uh I'm good with that. And I would be honest with you, I wouldn't even care if we had a moratorum and we don't allow any more cultivation uh in Cathedral City other than the stores buildings that were already created. We have a lot of empty buildings already. So, if we could just put a moratorum just like we did with dispensaries, no more uh dispensary license in uh uh south of the freeway only on the other side, I think that would be fine with me as well. But I'd ask council to reconsider the three strike and see if we can come up with something just a little bit better. Thank you, madam.

Thank you, sir. Council member Gutierrez.

Well, thank you, Mayor. First of all, I want to thank everyone for attending this meeting. I know you to it took a lot of time out of your day to come and actually not just come but many of you spoke from the heart and I really appreciate many of you just like me you guys are not public speakers I'm not a public speaker some of you guys actually hearing you speak actually motivated me a little bit but uh we have a very very difficult decision to make and David Bernard here NC4 you guys I mean I really love to hear all the all the stories and everything you have to say that you guys is not just a place of employment, it's a place of family. So that's really it makes me happy to hear that you guys are treated so well. Uh on the other hand, we do get a ton of complaints regarding odor and that's something that you guys are doing so well and we will I as a council will continue to work with you to improve and you are improving. you are making great strides in actually com uh combating the odor. I drive by there a lot and um the odor seems to be getting better and better. you guys are controlling it better and better. And as a matter of fact, um I talked to David Bernard um in our one of our last meetings and it took a lot of guts for someone to come and face the lions because he was here just to get attacked. And it took guts for someone to actually show up and confront people that of course they have a they have a reason to be angry because they do smell quite a bit of cannabis. But these drives that have been made are great and uh we do have a tough ordinance that uh we have to work with. I am this is a living document. I mean,

it will be here, but if we hear that something is not working, I'm willing to work with you guys. It's not something that is just set in stone that is never going to change. Uh like I said, you you you still have equipment that is in the process of being permitted. And I hopeful I hope that uh our city uh building department and plan department will approve those quickly to get them installed. And I just can't wait for you guys to say, "Hey, we have zero zero emissions of order." And I think you you can you can accomplish that. You've done so well. And I have plenty of family members that live that actually work next door and they tell me that the order has gotten extremely better. So, I just want to say congratulations because you are doing well and I just hope you continue to do uh to improve. And like I said, hopefully we can do something to stop the order and get it to zero. And I know you're willing to do that. And your your employees, uh, I know that they're also going to try to give you ideas what can be done to actually contain that order. Uh, like I said, thank you guys for coming this evening. And I really appreciate you guys, each and every one of you, for taking your time. And we're going to constantly be vigilant to see what happens and what's going on. And if the if we can do something to make sure we don't want you to I personally don't want you to close for many reasons. Tax base for the city is incredible. You have all these beautiful families here that depend on it. I can't I don't want to see you down. [Music] [Applause] Are you ready? You want me to go back to

Okay.

No. Okay. Please. So, I'll I'll start by saying uh at first when I heard the speakers begin and talking about us wanting to shut down or effectively shutting down C4, I was I was a little struck because this whole process has been about not shutting down C4. We have had at least this many a couple of times in the room demanding that we take immediate action on the on the existing rules and and shut them down. So, I mean, I know David, you heard some of that and and uh you were here before and um said in essence that well, tell me what I need to do and I'll do it. And of course the way it came across my answer was well stop the odor right that may have been a little short but you had to be there to to under this perspective. So because obviously if you could have or if you could you would but this whole effort has been about then the city coming and intervening and spending a lot of tax taxpayer dollars and continue to do so to try to find a solution to not shut down C4. So I just wanted to start with that. But I do actually have some questions. So Andy, I'm going to have to put you back on the hot seat because and these questions were derived from your comments. [Applause] So, I don't remember going over it, but if you did, I missed it in your presentation, but there is this reference to misdemeanor charges. So, can you elaborate on what that is, what what that would constitute that would that would ever be put in play, who the

charges would be against or would it be against the company or how how that and why it's necessary.

Sure. I'll lead this off and I'll look to my left to legal counsel to provide some backup support. Uh so essentially right now um a a violation of our our um cannabis odor regulations, uh nuisance odor regulations. It's a fine of $100 and that is the default fine that is set in our code. It's an infraction. um our our code defaults to an infraction. And because our code defaults to infraction, we can't do anything else other than the $100, $200, $500 citations that are set by the state. Uh so for us to elevate the fines from $100, $200, $500, we have to declare it a misdemeanor in this section of code. So that opens the door for us to be able to enforce with $1,000. I want to interrupt you, but we do have charge or we do have fines like that in our

short-term vacation rental ordinance. Are they misdemeanor also? They are. Yes. They continue on as and especially how that would apply to like a worker or something like this.

I think an important point here is that it's not our intent to lead with the criminal prosecution of a cannabis odor violation. Our intent, as we showed in the presentation on the slide, working with a business that has an approved odor control plan, let's open the plan up. Let's figure out what went wrong, why why there are odor detections here, and to give the business an opportunity, a chance to correct that odor before we go out and and do a reinspection. Uh so long before we ever get to the point that we're talking about uh a potential criminal prosecution of an odor violation, we're working through a a progressive process with increasing levels of enforcement. We want to start with warning. We want to start with communication to the business that we're made aware of um an odor complaint that we've detected odor and working with that business collaboratively to solve that problem using the odor control plan as a foundation. criminal prosecution. That that is um really a last step uh in our eyes, in our view, but that language is necessary for us to get to the thousand $5,000 fines. I think the director has covered that fairly well. And I'll I'll just reemphasize, we don't really anticipate suing uh a corporation for a misdemeanor. The only reason that clause is in there is for the same reason that it's in our existing short-term vacation rental ordinance. And that was because the council in the community found that a 100,200, $500 fine scheme, which is the default under state law and under our code, wasn't a sufficient deterrent. If you want something that is in lie of shutting a business down and you want to have a more deterrent effect from a higher fine, it has to be classified as a misdemeanor. That does not mean that

we're going to show up and prosecute individual employees or even the business for a misdemeanor. Courts don't like to see those types of things. But because of how state law is framed, the only way to have a fine more than 100, $200, or $500 is to classify it as a misdemeanor. We've done that with the STVR ordinance. We're proposing to do that here. Obviously, that's a policy question for the council. We only did that to give you an additional tool for a fine at a level that seems to be a more economic deterrent for these types of businesses.

So, looking at say our STVR regulations that have the same language or similar language in it, have we charged anyone with the misdemeanor? No, but we have levied fines of $5,000 or more. Right. So, and if we does it get charged on a person or on the business or how because of the term misdemeanor, people think, oh, I got a DUI, I got a misdemeanor on my record, something like that. I'm going to go to county jail, right? So, is it just the legal terminology or is it the same as terminology? And what ends up happening is an administrative fine for that amount gets issued to the business,

right? business then pays the so employees that are maybe worried that they could get charged under this ordinance if it passed as a misdemeanor that's there's not any real way for that to happen. That is not going to happen. The only instance, and this is just theoretical, where the city would ever contemplate or my office would ever recommend to the director or the city to do a misdemeanor prosecution against an individual as if they were operating illegally without a license or without a permit and refused to shut down. Right. That is a rare instance. All right. Thank you. Thank you so much. I think that clarifies a lot. There's more. Oh, no. There's more.

But wait, but wait, there's more. So, there's also um been a lot of discussion about three strikes and I see in there where you have three violations. I didn't see it articulated as three strikes, but you know, it's pretty obvious as as to what that is. So, could you tell us why that's in there? Why you feel it's necessary? and you know are are there alternatives or what would happen if it wasn't in there?

Sure. So this is a multiaceted response but u let me share a little bit of what's in the code already. So in your licensing code um you have a definition uh for a finding of good cause and the first point in the current code is the applicant or license has been cited for violating any of the terms conditions or provisions of this chapter of state law of any regulations and rules promulgated pursuant to state law any applicable local rules and regulations or any special terms or conditions placed upon its conditional use permit state license or local license. the existing definition of good cause could find that if we issue a citation for um a single cannabis odor complaint that that could constitute a finding of good cause for the revocation or the suspension of that license. Now I would add to that that there is a process that's not an automatic um if there is that finding if you have that citation that license is not automatically revoked. There's also an appeal option and that appeal goes to city council. So I think that's important. What we miss though and this is not in chapter 13 your enforcement provisions. Right now we do not have clear enforcement provisions. So we have created multiple paths. We created a path for businesses that have an approved odor control plan and we created a path for businesses that either do not have an approved odor control plan or have failed to maintain that odor control plan. Specifically for those businesses that do not have an odor control plan when they should have one or they failed to maintain it. Three citations there leads to a finding of good cause. Again, it's not automatic that the license is revoked, but it is a finding of good cause that could substantiate the process in the licensing code, including uh the appeal option to city council.

All right. So if you if you don't have some type of three strikes or some type of mechanism you mean and we have an issue with continuing odor and we have a facility that is not addressing that odor you know what would be the process then or would there be a process then? Well, the process could be a one strike rule

because if you're violating the law, it allows us to immediately go to a suspension or revocation. What we're proposing in this is a more relaxed kind of accommodating thing where we at least give you three different tries and it's over a significant period of time and it is based on the odor plan which is a more objective standard based on the consultant that we would

so it's not because I we anticipate knowing the neighbors who have been here hundreds of you know hundreds of them that when they return in mass They're going to notice occasional can cannabis odor, hopefully much reduced, but they're going to notice and they're going to make a complaint. Is that going to automatically lead to a strike? No. Is it? No. No.

No. That complaint would be investigated and it's at the city's discretion to issue that administrative citation. So again, going back to the processes that we've created, the intent is to use the odor control plan as a foundation for that discussion. Much like all of our other code compliance processes, we want to give the business, the resident, an opportunity to correct that violation before we issue that citation. So the intent here, let's give the business an opportunity to make corrections before we go out to do a reinspection. And if upon that reinspection, we still detect the violation, at that point, the city may issue that administrative citation.

I see. All right. And so I can still understand the concerns that were expressed because because you have to write it into the to the rules to have it there. But it comes down to the enforcement of that and it comes down to the a process including the appeal process. I hear I heard you say that if somebody has three strikes and the city bureaucracy to try to make it sound evil, which it's not, tries to move against that business, there is an appeal process. There is. Yes. And that appeal process at some point at least goes in front of the city council.

It does. Yes. and all of these job and economic factors, people would have the opportunity to bring those up again. Correct. Yes. All right. So, it's it's not an automatic three strikes. Correct. But it is does sound like it's necessary to have a process to at least be able to move move along and get things solved.

Yes. This was modeled after a similar process in the city of Palm Springs and it's not intended to be the first step, but it is an an effort to hold a business accountable. And in our conversations with the city of Palm Springs, they did have to use it once, only once. Um, but there was a business that was not conforming, that that was not following the odor control plan that they could not get into compliance. And this was despite every effort. um they did use um a similar measure to this uh to um exit that business from the city, but this is a a last measure. It is not our intent to lead with this.

I see. All right. Well, thank you. So, my last question or set of questions. I mean, it may have maybe a multiaceted answer, but this we're really not hearing an ordinance that has anything to do with C4 except that we're addressing cannabis odors and changes in the other changes in the cannabis code, which would affect all cannabis businesses, including C4. That is correct. Yes, this is a citywide ordinance and and we know many of the cannabis odors have been generated in the area around C4 industry. We also have received them from uh neighborhoods surrounding the Perez corridor. It's not the only part of the city that has generated cannabis.

And so, you know, though there will be others that will be touched by this should it pass. Correct. And arguably residents that are putting up with odor that would there would at least be some type of a process to address that. Yes. Um, but so C4 has a phase two, I'll call it, that is on the books to be done. It's in the process. So, how would this ordinance affect phase two?

So, that is a question that is going to require more investigation, more analysis. Um, they have an approved conditional use permit for a second building. That second building is approximately 163,000 square ft in size. They do not have a cannabis license for that second building. Um they submitted a building permit for it during the moratorum. That building permit is still on hold. Uh so the answer to that question at this point is unknown. it will require further research and and I think it's important to note that C4 itself isn't on the agenda tonight and we can't express or discuss I mean any enforcement action against them this is just the general the ordinance

oh well I can get around that was my question my question okay so forget C4 but if theoretically we had a business that had was a large cannabis business located on a major arterial near a resort residential but not C4. I'm just this is just theoretically and they have a second building that is in the process of more than 150,000 square feet. How how would this ordinance affect theoretically how could it affect that second phase?

So I think the answer to that question and this is applicable to uh several businesses in the city. This ordinance would make several existing businesses that have approved conditional use permits legal non-conforming uses. And I think the question that requires further investigation and research is what impact does the ordinance have on those specific businesses for any plans they may have for expansion as a legal non-conforming use. The city's municipal code limits restricts the expansion or the intensification of that use. That's in the current code today. Uh some of those businesses, they may have an approved conditional use permit for an expansion. And I think the question that is going to require further legal research is the the impact of this ordinance on an approved cup when that use is made a legal non-conforming use.

We we did discuss that issue in advance and the the difficulty in providing a specific answer to you about any business is it depends on the individual and specific facts of that business which we don't know yet. We still have to go through look at those that might fall into that category and the dis and the the question might be answered differently for each business based on what time they had, how far along they are in their building permit, how much money they spent on equipment or whether towards that building permit. Um, businesses will be at various phases in that in that phase. the answer probably is going to be different for

but but couldn't we reasonably say that well even existing businesses so certainly new construction is going to have under this new ordinance is going to have to have an odor control plan that's approved. So that would be one one thing that would affect there. We've also mentioned that there's a there's a provision added by the planning commission that says you can't have a cultivation canopy of more than 22,000 square ft. If somebody has a a building and they're planning on a cultivation canopy of more than 22,000 square ft, then that theoretically could affect them.

That's correct. If it's a new business or a second phase that adds more than that and the council decides to leave that section in the ordinance, that would certainly be a go forward sort of condition. Yeah, that sounds like that would that would kill it if it was something of that size. And unless they've already obtained a vested right and permit because of where they are in the process, we but we don't know that. Yeah, because we're not we're not talking about a specific business. We're talking theoretically. I whether it's C4, there's other businesses too that fall into that same category.

Okay. All right. I think that's that's it for my question. So, but I will I will say that this is tough because as has been pointed out by many speakers, we're trying to reach fair and reasonable regulations. And again, we've not tonight, but we've heard from hundreds of people that they wanted us to shut C4 down. So, we obviously didn't think that was fair and reasonable, at least with what has been going on or the process still in progress. So, and we've been urged to seek a middle ground. So it seems to me that as my colleague pointed out, while this may not be perfect or the final solution, it may be a work in progress. I think you said this is a this is a a step forward. a step forward that no one will like 100% because it creates stress on operators in the cannabis industry and those that are detecting the odors that want this business shut down. It's not going to happen because we don't anticipate that we would ever get to that process. So, no one will be happy. That's the perfect city council item in front of us where we're going to do the best we can and work staff's going to do the best they can and no one will be happy but we have to try to find that middle ground. So with with some amendments I think we need to move forward. So I'll leave it at that. Thank you mayor.

Mayor and before we proceed further the clerk let me know that we didn't officially close the public hearing. Could we do that at this time? All right. So, we'll deem the public hearing closed. You you can go on with your comments.

You know, and I I I certainly want to um commend all of you. Um and this was I I so appreciate it that you took your time. Um, I'm a retired school principal and when when uh parents came in and actually sat down with me across my desk, uh, instead of just writing me a little note about how they were applauding my death, um, it was great to hear their impressions of the incident. Um, and that that is exactly what I found tonight. Um and as Mayor Pro Tim stated, you know, nobody's going to be happy because um you know, we've had a year and a half of folks from um living along on Raone Road complaining about this and that and frantic frantic that their lifestyle has been, you know, upended. Um, but you took a chance on us and so did they. You know, they took a chance and bought places and, you know, are part of this community and they want to be embraced and respected and heard. Um, and the same thing with you. We we embrace you. Um, we want you, we do respect you and that the the fact that you were here tonight um with all your energy and all your eloquence um talking about um the family that you've created in this industry um and your commitment to making it happen. Um, and I certainly want to thank Andy and his team, uh, because this has been, you know, a herculean project, all the all the moving parts to put together, um, to to put in a presentation for us. And I'm so glad that Raymond had asked the question about I had no idea why the paragraph about short-term vacation rentals was in here. I thought maybe it was thought it

was a misprint and it had to do with fines and misdemeanors and, you know, that vocabulary. So, I I really appreciate that. Um, but I think it's important moving forward, um, that we have a policy and, you know, this public hearing on these resolutions that over time over time um, it's going to satisfy um, residents and business owners, you know, for years to come. And that's what we really want. So, um, thank you. And I, you know, I I support it. And I, you know, I, as um, Mayor Prom said, it's it's a work in progress. There are going to be things that we find in here that don't work or things that, you know, we we it was an oversight or that we can add now. Um, but I think it's important that we have a base plan moving forward so that um, everybody's satisfied and we know what the level playing field is. Thank you. May I have

I have question.

Thank you. So I have heard two words over and over and over tonight. Moving forward. Help me understand what that means. Not literally what the words mean. We're not looking at English major stuff. But for the city moving forward might look substantively different than what C4 sees as moving forward. And I'm only picking you because you're kind of in the middle and you get a lot of this information. I don't think David's ever reached out to me. So I I I don't know, you know, what he's working on and what he considers moving forward. And I know you know what the city considers moving forward. Can you help me rationalize those two positions? Well, from the city's perspective, we're currently under a moratorum right now. We are not processing new conditional use permits, new cannabis licenses for the buildout of a conditional use permit. We're at a standstill and until council lifts the moratorum, we'll remain at a standstill. The current moratorum runs through January 2026. Uh the intent of this ordinance is to adopt regulations and to move forward and doing so having a process where we can validate and verify the measures that cannabis businesses are putting in place to mitigate their cannabis odor and to enforce the city's existing standard of no odor at the property line. This strengthens the city's zoning regulations. It strengthens our enforcement regulations and leans into existing language that's in the code. This is a refinement um upon adoption on second reading the the effective date 30 days from that would allow the moratorum to sunset and with that uh moving forward the city can continue to process new cups for cannabis businesses uh cannabis licenses to build out those

cups and as well beginning January 1st 2026 start to realize the implementation of the odor control plan process. Uh so moving forward from staff's perspective looks just like that. This is going to continue to take time. Uh we have intentionally structured the implementation of the odor control plans to tie those with the renewal of a cannabis license to give those businesses time. Time to prepare the plans, time to order equipment, any additional odor control equipment they may be required that they need to implement as part of that plan. So, uh, over the course of 2026, uh, we'll see the implementation of additional odor control equipment. We'll have a basis for more intelligent discussions about cannabis odor complaints, and we'll have, uh, more solutions in our toolbox to work with residents and the business community.

Thank you very much. So, piggybacking on that, and I hope I'm not asking you to play both sides of the sword here. What is your understanding because he doesn't call me what is it your understanding is that C4 is a putting forward now as a solution or as at least a significant step towards a solution. Not a baby step but a significant step. So, it's fair to say that this has been a long road and I would say that we began to start receiving complaints about cannabis odor uh in the vicinity of date palm and Raone March of 2024. It's been that long. uh it really increased in September of 2024 and this was correlated with um the temporary certificates of occupancy that the city granted for uh the incremental um addition of u the growrooms and cultivation within C4 industry. Uh so we have seen a substantial increase in cannabis odor complaints and it was September October 2024 that we put C4 industry on notice that we're receiving complaints and that they need to take additional action. Um they have responded and I'll say that they installed additional uh odor control equipment um late 2024. This was operational the day after Thanksgiving 2024. Um that was uh the misting system, the vapor system. Um that is effective. that it is not effective in entirely addressing the cannabis odor. We continue to receive complaints. We continue to detect cannabis odor after that point. We continue to lean into uh C4 industry to uh inform them, advise them that they needed to take additional measures to address their cannabis odor. We have not yet issued the certificate of occupancy for that building and there still is one phase that they have not brought online. Uh it is incumbent on C4 Industry to deliver a solution for the cannabis odor that they're generating. Uh they did submit a building permit um

April of 2025. Uh we issued comments and requested that that building permit be resubmitted. Um we have not seen that resubmitt yet. I did have a discussion with Mr. Bernard. Uh we anticipate that that submitt will be coming in. Just as we have been going through a process to learn more about cannabis odor generation, so has Mr. Bernard. So has C4 industry. Uh we brought in a subject matter expert to help us understand the odor generation at C4 industry. Uh it's our understanding that Mr. Bernard C4 industry has engaged with that same consultant to look at uh their odor load, their odor emissions within the facility to give them a stronger understanding of how they're generating cannabis odors and to give them a baseline for um the the installation of additional equipment. We have not seen that come in yet. We have not seen that resubmitt yet. We have not seen C4 industry install additional cannabis odor control equipment since 2024.

Since a year ago. Since about a year ago. Right. Yes. Thank you. Then that's my questions. Thank you.

Real quick before you go. So, so I believe earlier when council member Gutierrez asked you and I may be mistaken that he asked you about the um change with in in regards to resort residential for dispensaries which now only need to have a 250 ft setback if they have a consumption lounge. And I thought I heard you say that that change wasn't made, but we could make it now. But I'm then I go back through the draft here to see where the change would have to be made. And I see that language has been struck out. So could you verify that?

It would be in section 10. Sure. Under locationational requirements. So it does look like that change was made. You are correct. Okay, which would make sense as he said that we had specifically asked for that. So, so I don't think we need to amend that if we decide to move forward tonight to take care of that portion. Thank you. Makes it easier.

Any further questions? Um only thing that I would excuse me uh that I would uh like to just bring back to council right now if if uh they're interested if you're all interested is if uh we can can approve this uh ordinance without the three strike in the misdemeanor and have staff come back with with the misdemeanor article and have staff come back uh with another strong restriction without shutting down a business. you know, Cathedral City has been built on uh businesses, small businesses, and uh I think that by given the idea, we're going to shut you down if we get three complaints. And even though there is a process, like Andy said, it's got to go through here to that, I don't I don't think that's a real positive uh message that we're sending out. So, I would like just to bring to council. I'll make a motion, but I'd rather just hear from council if we could uh exclude that part of the ordinance. I mean, I'm good with the ordinance as far as zoning and a few other things, but uh I think this is just something I I wouldn't want to see put on a business. Mayor and council members, the council certainly has the purview to do that. If we make that change, that's a significant change to the ordinance. This is a zoning ordinance. The law requires it go back to the planning commission for further review.

He just says I have to go back to the planning commission if we were to do that. And I I shared shared your concerns, but that's why we asked specific questions about what that means, what that word means. And I thought we got a really good explanation as to that that that means we can levy the level of fines that we want to levy, but it doesn't mean anybody's going to get arrested for a misdemeanor. So I don't understand. And we have the same provisions in our SDVR regulations so that we can assess that level of fine and we don't arrest anybody as a for a misdemeanor there. So, I don't understand then why it would you'd want it struck and brought back. It was explained as to what it is.

Well, that was put in there because they wanted to up the fines. Correct. The misdemeanor. Correct. I understood that correctly. Okay. That's the only way they can legally do it. Take out the three strike where the license would be revoked. Well, I thought we had that explained to us that that's there is no three strikes. There's just three if you get three or more citations that could be used to revoke your license. But it's not the intent that that would happen. And if that were to if staff were to go rogue and do that, the facility could appeal back to the city council and we could intervene. Then why put it in at all?

Because without that, you don't have a you don't have a process where you say you got to do this and you got to do this. You could have a business that just continues to say, "Well, I'm not going to do it." So there has to be a process and then it would come back in front. They could appeal it back in front of us. Otherwise, it just can just go on and on and on. You can have residents complaining that they're getting citations and no and nothing's happening other than they're getting fined. So I I appreciate what you're saying. I had those same concerns, but I thought the explanation made enough sense that I don't think it's necessary to strike those out. And Eric, if I can clarify, the current code language says that a license could be revoked after one citation. We've actually expanded it to three before that is a consideration. Is that correct?

That's correct. So, we we've made the language broader in this uh proposal so that I mean currently today we could if if somebody got a citation, we could move to revoke their license. What this is doing is uh saying that after three times staff could pursue that if necessary, but um so it is right now the language is broader, but still does give the city the ability that if the business is not coming into compliance that they can take action to recommend a license revocation. I

I think it's helpful to for the council to consider that what you're not what we've not talked about is your discretion. Let's face it, you're going to shut down a business uh that's going to get appealed to this body and ultimately you'll be the decision makers and can take all of those things into consideration. In addition, the ordinance as it is uh doesn't impose the high fines. There's a resolution that we've proposed, but that doesn't include the $5,000 or $1,000 fine yet. You'd have to take separate action to do that. All that's in the draft ordinance right now is the more elaborate three-step process and the clause that allows you in the future to impose higher fines should you decide that you want to do that. You're not imposing those by adopting this ordinance right now. Okay, Andy, just one more quick question. Uh it doesn't look like it's going to be removed. So I got to ask a question. How does one cultivation get to uh the first strike? What what does what happens? I mean just numerous complaints, one complaint, two complaints. Does uh does the police officer go out there and smell it and come back and say, "Yeah, it smells." So how do you get to the first strike? If you if I can call it a strike,

it's over here. This is the admin citation. It's not a complaint. It's an admin citation. So that's an action by a code compliance officer after going through the entire process, doing an investigation, doing an inspection. Um, in this first category, you know, working with a business to allow them to take corrective action, going out, doing the reinspection, we can grant additional time. There is discretion built into this process. nothing is is uh automatic. You know, the corrective action is intended to be within 10 days, but if they need to order uh filters, if they need to order equipment, uh there is discretion, there is latitude that allows us to grant that additional time to work with that business to find that solution. So, it is at that point where we've given them every chance we can. We've gone out, we've done the reinspection, there remains a cannabis odor at the property line. It's at that point that the city may issue an administrative citation. And that administrative citation um the threshold is three administrative citations over a 12-month period of time. So when you're hearing three strikes, that's really what it is. Those administrative citations, it's at the end of a process, working with a business, giving them every opportunity they can to take corrective action to address the odors and really coming to the conclusion at that reinspection that the odor persists. Okay. Thank you. Sure. Thank you, Madame Mayor.

Mayor, I do think there is one one section that I would propose to to the council that we remove, and that was a section that was added by the planning commission with the 22,000 square ft canopy limit. What I'm hearing is there's some question whether that would just automatically kill phase two of C4's planned addition. That's not known at this time. But um and I also am concerned that since we're going to put in all this regulation about having the odor control and we're going to limit like it we probably should have all along where cultivation places can go. So they can only go to industrial and certain commercial zones. then wh why do we care if they're more than 22,000 square feet if somebody wants to come build a nice state-of-the-art big one say like in the north city so those two things first I was going to propose we just exempt it for the north city but with this question still hanging about how it would affect C4 I think at this point we should just remove it and then once somewhere farther on down the road if we want to we can consider some type of amendment limiting it to the north city or something like that after we've already C4 has already been able to move forward with their second phase or at least that question's been answered. So I would propose in fact I at this point if if it's appropriate I'll make a motion that we approve the ordin ordinance as recommended except we would strike strike section 23 uh that limits the uh cultivation canopy.

Is there a second? I second that motion. Okay. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim Gregory and a second by Council Member Gutierrez. Please vote. Council member Gutierrez, I don't see it. Okay, hold on. You want to verbalize your vote? Yeah, it does not come up in my computer. You want to verbalize your vote? Yes. Yes. Okay, motion carries. All eyes.

Yeah, we're going to take a little break. That's going to give you guys a chance if you want to scatter. It's also going to give us a chance to use the rest.

say that's a 247 operation. Whatever you can do,

you know what I failed to ask of you, Christina, is if you could please read the title of the ordinance. An ordinance of the city council of the city of Cathedral City, California, amending chapters 3.48, 5.88, 9.108, and 13.240, and sections 9.30.30 30.030 030 of the Cathedral City Municipal Code to substantially update the cannabis tax, cannabis licensing, and zoning regulations and enforcement provisions, including the addition of an odor control plan as a condition of approval for a cannabis conditional use permit, and applying the requirement retroactively to existing cannabis businesses through the annual renewal of a cannabis license, the deletion of a cannabis cultivation as a conditional use within the planned community commercial zoning district, the addition of a 300 ft set back from the any cultivation, manufacturing and distribution site to a property zone residential resort residential and the modification of the public nuisance regulations to establish a process for the enforcement of cannabis odors together with modifications to the cannabis tax and cannabis licensing regulations to promote the efficient administration of the code. to require local cannabis taxes made be made current prior to the renewal of a local license to add an operational requirement prior to the renewal of a dispensary license and to allow tax payment agreements amending section 13.58.020 to establish a default fine and administrative fines and to authorize the city council to establish different fines by resolution and amending sections 5.82 82 and 5.94 and repealing and reserving sections 1.04.080 3.24.190

3.28.990 5.03.075 5.08.110 5.12.350 5.18.240 240 5.19.160 5.20.200 5.24.10 530.160 5.32.360 5.33.480 5.34.070 070 5.35.130 5.36.050 5.38.140 5.4.10 5.44.09 5.48.220 5.52.220 5.56.19 5.60 6.380 5.68.110 5.70.210 5.72.080 5.74.060 5.82.040 5.94.030 8.24.09D 8.26.190 26.190 850.135 8.57.090 9.62.130E 9.89.160 1 11.08.020E5

11.52.0440E 0440 E 11.74.140 11.80.230 11.97.190 11.98.180 and 14.28.160 to consolidate administrative fines throughout the Cathedral City Municipal Code in a single section. Longest title I've ever heard. [Music] [Applause] That being said, you've got the easy side of it. It's the adoption of the updated Cathedral City local hazard mitigation plan.

Okay. Honorable mayor and council, uh, as you have been aware of, we've been working on this for just about three years. This is the completion of phase two, if you will. Uh the first part was the grant, the awarding of the grant and then um I should say getting the grant then awarding it um getting to the point where we awarded it. This is the completion. This was the heavy lift. Um last council meeting we brought the EOP. Today is the local hazard mitigation plan. If you've read it, it's 305 beautiful pages of I'm sure the mayor prom through it and it's a very comprehensive document. Um main parts about it is it does keep us in line with state and federal law. Uh and then um it does uh part of this process is for the uh approval of the fun grant funds is you have to adopt it. We have got to send that to FEMA and then that will complete um the grant funds. Uh if you remember November 13th you approve the contract to Jacob Green and Associates. Again, this is in line with the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. Uh both city staff and Jacob Green, the consultant, and their staff went step by step uh through this planning process. Um the what we expected to be a lengthy process actually got turned around pretty quick. Uh in June of 2025, the LHMP was originally sent to uh Caloa, Cal OES, then to FEMA. Um and then FEMA very quickly turned it around pretty quick. So um as I was here presenting the EOP last time, we had just received approval that day uh or confirmation that it was done. So what we need from you tonight

is the final step is the adoption of both. Um through this process, we did do a series of online and in-person workshops. We did uh do uh meet with community partners to give their input. Um and we also met with the county to get their input for the vulnerable population. Um so next steps once you approve it tonight, we will um contact or uh email FEMA, say that it's been adopted. We'll then integrate the it into the general plan and initiate an amendment. So it won't quite be done but we will initiate that process. Um we do have um trainings scheduled that's to coordinate the internal implementation and it's going to be comprehensive. Uh it is it will be multiple trainings within multiple departments. Uh and as I mentioned last time, we'll be doing a review of Hurricane Hillary to get it uh to give people some some background. Um we will conduct uh annual reviews and five-year updates. Um what this ultimately does is get allows the city to have access to federal funding. Uh the fiscal impact to the operating budget is none. Um however, there is a breakdown on the next slide of of the grant and where it went. This is in line with the 5-year strategic plan goal E action item uh E5 update the city's uh EOC conduct drills and the EOP and LHMP. So when we're completed June or January 28th, that will be the completion of it for the fiscal impact. $28,58 uh broken up between the two documents. Um and again fully reimbursible through FEMA questions.

Thank you. Council questions?

I have nothing. So, let me tell you my favorite part, and you can maybe tell me why this is, although I suspect it's because that's the way the industry or the the experts in this area, they look at it. But when it goes through all of the different hazards, two of them we've faced since I've been on city council. Two of them that have in my opinion as far as disaster occurrences have affected us the most. First it was COVID infectious disease. So there is a section on that and it covers it. And then when it says likelihood to happen, it says unlikely. So the second one is for Cathedral City is flooding. Good section. It goes through and covers a bunch of things. And then it says overall probability over the next 5 years. Unlikely. Well, we've had both of those in the last five years. So how how is that how is that categorization done?

So it's it's strictly done like as you know her hurricane Hillary was a thousand-year flood, right? So they when they're talking let's go let's break it up into two flooding in particular for it to actually have to initiate a response. if they look at the number of flooding in the United States, right, it's like a a dollar cost averaging, right? And so how many of these potential floods and what constitutes a flood um can be dependent on the jurisdiction. It could be it's a flood, but it's just because it's a low-line area like we get in some areas around here. So

the roadways and Exactly. It's it's taking a a look nationally and saying what percentage will actually lead to the flood. The COVID again if you look at statistically to where yes it h it did happen once but what are the chances that that's again the whole United States that though that is going to happen to where it shuts down a city again? It's actually a very small number. Okay.

All right. Well, that's does do these classifications then really affect our ability does that part of it really affect our ability maybe to seek mitigation grants those types of things or is it more is it more just having the plan and then identifying ways to even address things that are less frequent. Okay. It at least says you have a plan versus that. Hey, we have something that we can refer to in this case. It it's not this is a plan that covers everything that could happen. That's actually more of the emergency operation plan that these different sections within the city are going to help address these problems if they come to the city.

All right, that makes sense. Thank you. You bet. Thank you. And of course, we have no questions from from the audience there. So, I will jump right to a motion to approve. I move to adopt the updated local hazard hazard mitigation plan. Sir, all in favor? Okay. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim Gregory and a second by Council Member Lamb. Please vote. Council member Gutier is still not seeing it. Yes. Okay. Please verbalize your vote. Yes. And motion carries. All eyes. Thank you so much.

Next is item B, the 2025 arts and California parks implementation grant. May we have a staff report? I thought it would be inter

uh I'll just introduce uh this uh and Kevin is going to be presenting. Um staff are really excited. Uh we received a new grant uh called an art and parks grant and uh this was originally submitted last year in 2024 and we were not successful. Uh we applied a second round and we were successful and the intent is to have uh the grant fund a series of activations at Espironza Park as our newest park. Um, the grant award will allow us to do some events out there to again engage the community into this new space and there's some art activities planned. And with that, I'll turn it over to Kevin.

The presentation is done because look at the time. We just need it to be approved tonight because we have to give it back to um our granting agency by September 30th. So, any questions, mayor, mayor, prom, city council, as we go along, please ask. If not, save them until the end. As the inter city manager said, this is a happy day. This is a good presentation. We probably should have started with this and maybe other things would have been happier this this evening. Um background art and California parks is a new program from the California State Parks. This initiative brings together talented artists, culture bearsers, Native American tribes, and diverse communities. Part of this program is to a grant to bring art into local parks. Um the program goals straight from the grant application welcome, empower, heal, connect, and inspire. And the definitions that go with as an said, we applied last year. We did not receive. And typically what Amanda does is she does take people up on the offer that if we would like to have a debrief, we had a debrief and those kinds of things help because there is a tomorrow, there is the next time around. So this year was the second time and we were successful and a few slides later you'll see there were a lot of people involved and we'll talk about that briefly. Um, Hope Rising, as Ann said, will activate Esparanza Park will provide different opportunities to welcoming neighbors and visitors to this new public space, promoting fun and culturally relevant activities to ensure the park remains a safe place for all to enjoy. Here in Cathedral City, we want Espironza Park to become a place of healing. That's where the hope comes

into play and the place for celebrating this particular area of our valley. Utilizing community outreach, creating tangible art, and facilitating cultural celebrations will hope rising will honor the past, the present, and the future, not only of the dream homes community, but also of Cathedral City. The Hope Rising goals, community outreach, creating tangible art, facilitating cultural celebrations. Got to love the art there on the right. the right. So this is where this was truly a collaboration. I mean tied to the DRD, tied to the pace, tied to the pack, the staff liaison, Amanda as the central focal point and working. It was truly a collaboration and so we may wanted to point that out. And then also there's other people that are not necessarily partners but they will participate and we have commitments tied to these organizations with respect to the Agua Caliente the both the the band and the elementary school in Dream Homes, the Boys and Girls Club, the Cathedral City Senior Center, and last but not least, the Scribe Gallery and Karen Riley. So, what are the committee tasks? First, it'll start out with a call for artists for the painting and design of the community mural, bringing submissions to the pack for a panel review. The final concepts will be brought to the community for review and acceptance to utilize partners to assist with the community engagement to have that same kind of community engagement that was part of Espironza Park to begin with. work with community leaders and organizations to bring finalists for that approval with the community. Work with the DRD who's truly a partner to

plan to coordinate four themed community events which are on the next page to and to implement those events installing the art and promoting and celebrating the varied culture. So, the mural that Kevin's talking about is a planned mural that would be on the back of the restroom buildings that faces the CV link entrance. Exactly. So, the project vision, it's on the It's on the building or it's that wall that's wall. Okay. The wall behind the building. Yeah. It's 9 by30. It's almost 300 square feet. And we we talk a little bit about that right here.

Yeah. I've been hanging out in Esparonza Park lately, people cuz cuz Panorama Park is closed.

Um, so in celebrating Cathedral City's diverse cultures, these are the four planned theme events. Echoes of the past, voices of the present, visions of the future, and together we heal. Each event will center around the community working together to paint a mural section centered around shared themes. So this ties back to that 300 square ft a 9 1/2x 30ft wall facing the entry to CV Link. The nearly 300 ft mural will showcase the themes identified from the events and will be a welcoming entryway from CV Link into the park. The mural will be painted using a paint by numbers format which you'll see an example of that on the next slide. So you all are welcome to paint by a number if you would like to join in. The planned events will utilize art activities, music, culture performances, storytelling, poetry, and food, especially food to bring the community together and celebrate our shared heritage. DRD is truly a partner at a cost and that's part of the the dollars with respect to the the grant. But the DRD has pledged support for this project and will help plan and implement all events that comes under that recreation arm that we now contract with them as a partner. So this is what a vision board looks like. This is what was put together tied to the grant application. ideas, not necessarily the endgame, but ideas because our friends with AI would necessarily like it if we used this exactly as it is. Paint by numbers example provided by the California State Parks. This is an example as you can see with respect to what will be out there for that 9 12T by 30 foot.

So, the grant award is $98,000 plus. That covers DRD's labor, event materials and supplies, event promotion, and grant subcontractors including the muralist, the scrap gallery classes, and local musicians. Separate from that is our match, and this match look huge because of the plan for the entryway monument at the roundabout. The grant match of 190,000 will include the cost of the that sculpture at the roundabout staff labor and the call for artists. So in looking at the fiscal impact, the first two lines tie back to you accepting the grant which will mean the revenue that will come in the door and then our associated expenses and that goes against our civic grants fund which is our fund 249. And then the grant match expense that and this was the update to clarify for the staff report that basically call it 90% plus will come from the art and public places fund but there could be incidental costs that are not applicable and or appropriate for us to charge to that fund and we will do our due diligence. So that could be the 10% or less that may be charged to the general fund. when the costs come in, we will make sure that we uh record the budgets accordingly for that 190k against the appropriate funds. So in total, you're looking at $288,000 in the end. Strategic plan goals, goal A, goal B, goal F. And this is tonight's recommendation for you all to accept this arts in California parks grant. It's an implementation grant in the amount of 98,000 plus and authorize the city manager or designate to execute the grant agreement only because we need to get this in by the 30th of September.

Thank you. Council questions. I do have a question. Yes sir.

Um thank you for the presentation and my question is uh if this were to get approved what will be the ending balance in the arts and poverty places fund? So we're with our interest that we're in finalizing our year in results and come the second meeting in October, we will be bring preliminary financial results to you to include the general fund, the measure W fund this year. We're also going to add in our impact fees because those are such hot topics which includes the art and public places and our proprietary funds like our insurance fund and things like that. But we're at about 425 430,000 with all the interest earnings that we had this past year. So if we actually have to use that 190, let's say it is the full 190, we'll still be above 200,000.

Thank you. Well, and council member, out of that 190, 173,000 of that is the planned expenditures right now for the uh public art piece uh the Esparenza sculpture. So that is uh that budget match is out of the art and public places fund. So that's how that 425 could get down to that $23545,000 range. Thank you. Okay, I lost John. So the

we have 425,000 ma'am in the art and public places fund. A little bit more. If we would spend the entire 190,000 that was identified in this, that would reduce the art and public places fund down by 190. As Ann pointed out, we anticip what definitely what's planned for it is 170,000 plus, but if some of those other incidental costs or whatever are could be attributed to the art and public faces fund, we will charge it to that. If we don't, we'll charge it to the general fund. So, call it 230 to 250 somewhere in there. We'll probably still have remaining.

I'm going to go home and talk to my husband about budgeting because I'm just going to use all of those lines. 100 here, 100 there. Any other questions? Not at this moment. Anybody else? I think that's it. You are free. Thank you, sir. No. Uh, do we have any comments from the public? Well, we don't have any public. That's very nice of you to offer. So, do we have a motion to approve staff's recommendation? Second. And mayor, we have no public comments on the item. Let's see. So, we have a motion by Council Member Lamb and a second by Council Member Gutierrez. Please vote. Still broken.

Still broken. Council member Gutierrez, would you like to verbalize your vote? Yes. Okay. And motion carries. All eyes. It can't be done. Oh, it isn't. I was just back there.

Okay. So, we're moving on to number seven. Discussion of future agenda items. Speak now or forever?

Yes, mayor. I have something. So, so this is a Kevin thing, you know. So when we have funding and it's OPM like other people's money, I I would like us to have a maybe a study session item on what I'm going to call projects that are OPM but this for other pots of money. So we've had a number of capital projects up here in the last couple months that are not that weren't covered in the budget. We never discussed them in the budget. One of them is there's been some landscaping on land dowo which is normal if it's from I'm not going to ask you questions because this is just to add to the agenda which is normal if it's from the um lighting and landscaping district but we've been getting in the week updates that it's not from that it's from some other mystery pot of money and then there's some signage there that I don't remember ever being discussed. So I think that should be one item in this other pots of money. Another one is, if you've noticed, there's some digital traffic signs that have shown up. If you've gone off the freeway southbound on date palm, there's a giant

Oh, yeah.

sign there. So, I had to ask city manager, is that part of a seabag thing? Which it it ends up it is. And but apparently there's two others going up in town. So, I think we should be briefed on that because it's not us. It's not our money. So, it didn't come up in budget. And then I know CV Sync is another thing that's going on. It would be a good to talk about that. Um, and that's other I say other pots of money cuz I don't say other people's money cuz some of that is our money because you know it it comes from government somewhere. And anything else that public works can think of. I'm not talking about things that are like grant money because we covered those in the budget, but any capital projects going on now or anticipated in the near future that are that weren't covered in the budget process but are in Cathedral City with other people other pots of money. And the only reason I came back sir with respect to that was to comment that on the future council agenda items that you see in the only meeting that we have planned in September. We anticipate coming back to you all with respect to like we promised when you passed the budget that we would come back on a more periodic basis to give you an idea of where we stand this year.

That's good. Not in September though because we're in No, I'm sorry. Did I say September? I meant to say the only meeting in December. Okay. All right. My apologies. So, is is the council okay with adding adding that on as a study session item? So, so that could be an extra in aside, but we plan on doing that so that you know on the December 10th meeting. Thank you. And we have no closed session. Guess what that means? Meeting is ajourned.