With little fanfare, the Placerville City Council approved the retail sale of cannabis in the city on a 4-1 vote with Councilmembers Mark Acuna, Patricia Borelli, John Clerici and Michael Saragosa voting yes and Mayor Wendy Thomas voting no.

In the brief discussion that preceded the vote, Thomas indicated she was opposed to the ordinance, saying she was against “normalization of the use of recreational cannabis.”

In response, Clerici commented that despite what the council did people would continue using marijuana.

“Its use has already been normalized,” he said, adding that sales would be limited to adults and would be a money source for the city.

Acuna, who along with Clerici served on the ad hoc committee that developed the cannabis ordinance, said he didn’t want to see another drug on the street but the ordinance highly regulates its sale.

An urgency ordinance filling the gap between when the new cannabis ordinance goes into effect, which is Nov. 9, and when the ordinance prohibiting sales in the city expires, which is Oct. 27, also passed on a 4-1 vote with Thomas the lone no vote.

The new 47-page ordinance regulates the application process for a cannabis permit, the conditions under which a business can operate, who is prohibited from holding a cannabis license, how permittees will be selected, the location and design of these businesses and a host of other provisions.

An overlay zone ordinance which indicates where cannabis businesses could possibly be located in the city goes to the planning commission this month. The commission’s recommendations are expected to come back to the city council in November or December.

Michael Saragosa was also sworn in as the newest member of the council, filling the remaining two years of Trisha Wilkins’ term after she resigned.

Saragosa, who previously served on the Placerville Planning Commission and Historical Advisory Committee, said he was excited to serve. The newest member of the council is a public affairs specialist and lobbyist. He and his wife run Quintana Saragosa Public Affairs in Sacramento.

The council also conducted a hearing to consider an appeal of the planning commission’s approval of a conditional use permit to convert an existing vacant commercial warehouse and commercial retail building into a competition canine training facility on Green Valley Road.

Members of the Lacey family appealed the project, citing concerns over noise, traffic and the impact of the project on the neighborhood and home values. A long list of people spoke for and against the project with supporters saying it would be a good use of the facility and bring more business to the area. Those speaking against it said they weren’t opposed to the facility per se but were against using that particular location for the dog training facility.

Henry Brzezinski, Chief of El Dorado County Animal Services, urged the council to approve the conditional use permit as did Ann McQuillen, the owner of Competition Canine, who said the enterprise would attract more people to the area to spend money.

In the end the council voted unanimously to deny the appeal while at the same time making some minor modifications to the conditional use permit including reevaluating the outdoor training hours after six months and mandating there be no odors offsite. A new condition that was added requires the planning director to review and approve the planned expansion into phase two for compliance and to determine there are no impacts.

The council also discussed some short-term improvements to Lumsden Park. City staff proposed some different projects and costs including $1,500 to improve trails in the park, $50 for signs, adding a fence at the south/west end of the park at a cost of $27,000 and spending $1,500 an acre to remove vegetation around the park. Closing the bathroom, which is frequently vandalized and moving the gate was also proposed. With the staff saying they believed the improvements could be done within the existing budget, the council unanimously approved them with the exception of spending $27,000 for a fence.

The council also unanimously approved the Placerville Station Phase II Park-N-Bus project known as the Mosquito Park and Ride which will include replacing the failed sewer connections within the existing Park-N-Ride facility, replacing the failing water main, abandoning a deteriorating sewer main and repaving Mosquito Road from Locust Avenue to Clay Street. Staff indicated construction is expected to start in Spring, 2019.