MONTEREY — The Monterey City Council will consider pausing the city’s cannabis retail permit process and vote on placing a parking tax on the special election ballot in June.
One agenda item on Tuesday recommends cancelling invitations to two waitlisted cannabis businesses and whether to implement a 180-day pause on processing new applications.
The council is being asked to withdraw the invitations from Infinity Assets Monterey LLC and Monterey Organic LLC.
The council approved four cannabis storefront businesses back in January 2024, then selected four to operate in May 2024. However, only two of them were able to open successfully — one in the Downtown District and another in the Lighthouse Avenue and Foam Street venue.
According to Tuesday’s agenda, city staff cited market saturation and competition as reasons for the pause. The report notes that 70 percent of first year sales came from local customers, with limited growth from tourism. There were also concerns about an over-saturation of retail businesses, with locals having options in Seaside and Pacific Grove’s council discussing opening their own retail storefront.
During the 180-day pause, city staff would re-evaluate the market, check in with public safety and look at the zoning impacts of continuing to add more cannabis storefronts.
The council will also consider placing an 8 percent tax on private parking lot users before voters during the special election scheduled for June 2.
The proposed tax would apply to users occupying parking spaces in private parking facilities. It would not apply to city-owned parking lots and structures, residential parking permits, hotel parking fees included in room charges or parking associated with residential premises where the occupant has lived there for at least 30 consecutive days.
According to the staff report the estimated annual revenue from the proposed tax ranges between $372,000 and $745,000. The average cost to individual customers is estimated between $0.72 and $1.44.
The city adopted its fiscal year 2025-26 budget with a $10.5 million structural deficit. An updated estimate projects a $12 million deficit for fiscal year 2026-27 according to Tuesday’s agenda.
At the Feb. 17 meeting, the council declared a fiscal emergency, allowing the city to request a special election to place tax measures on the ballot.
The Monterey City Council will meet at 4 p.m.Tuesday at Monterey City Hall, 580 Pacific Street. The meeting will be streamed online and can be participated in via Zoom at https://monterey-org.zoomgov.com/j/1607729333.
