Palm Desert City Council discuss allowing marijuana dispensaries

Discussions were underway at Thursday’s Palm Desert City Council to allow the sale of marijuana. This will make Palm Desert the fourth city in the valley to allow dispensaries.

While a decision was not made at Thursday’s meeting, that item on the agenda has officially been pushed back to September 28 to allow city staff to do more research.

There are proposals from city staff which are in response to the legalization of recreational marijuana use in the state.

During their last meeting in August, city staff proposed allowing a small number of businesses to operate. This includes dispensaries as well as testing and research facilities.

Those businesses can only operate in certain areas of the city zoned for commercial use such but does include certain parts of El Paseo and along stretches of Highway 111.

City staff originally planned on allowing up to 30 permits in the city, with a potential of 19 dispensaries.

Council members felt that was too many and are calling for further discussion. Mayor Jan Harnik and Councilmember Susan Weber are expected to recuse themselves from an official vote due to possible business conflicts.