Bay City News
One applicant was declared the winner of an annual commercial cannabis business lottery to receive a business permit in Stockton by default due to minimal applicants, the city said.
Typically, the city will hold a random lottery drawing to select the winner but this year it was canceled because of low turnout.
The application period was open through the month of May, but Stockton’s Community Development Department received only three applications, with only one of them eligible to participate in the drawing.
City officials said last year there was not a drawing either.
The Stockton Municipal Code states that the city permits a total of four lottery applications annually — two for cannabis dispensaries with storefront retail and two for cannabis microbusinesses.
A spokesperson for the city said they have noticed fewer and fewer applications, which could possibly stem from the cannabis market reaching saturation.
For cannabis businesses to operate, they have location restrictions for where their business can be placed, they must also find a landlord or own their own property in an acceptable area, and in general there are high costs to break into the business, the spokesperson said.