If you want to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Marin County, it won’t hurt to have a clean record, a solid business plan, an operations program that benefits the community, sparkling character references, lots of cash, time to spare and plenty of patience.

In short, there will be lots of red tape to cut, high hurdles to leap and hoops to roll through.

Civic Center officials have drafted an exhaustive process aimed at selecting applicants for licenses to deal medical pot — and weeding out those deemed unsuitable.

The Board of Supervisors will review procedures developed by colleagues Judy Arnold and Damon Connolly at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Civic Center.

“It’s not going to be easy” to get one of four licenses the county may issue for dispensaries in unincorporated areas, Arnold noted. Dispensary sites must be located in unincorporated commercial areas that are not near schools or parks or other places children congregate, and applicants must provide a bundle of detailed information, then hurdle a long winnowing process.

Still, Lynnette Shaw, known as the “godmother of medical marijuana dispensaries, ” cheered the county’s rigorous application procedure. Shaw recently won a battle with prosecutors after a federal court ruled an injunction that shut down her Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana could not be enforced. She hopes to apply for a county marijuana permit and is in “delicate negotiations” with a property owner to get a site.

“It’s a reasonably fair amount of regulation,” she said of the county proposal. “I applaud the county.” She noted Fairfax officials imposed 84 conditions before she could launch the Marin alliance in town, and said the county plan seems to have fewer. In any event, the going will get lots tougher when new state regulations kick in in 2018, she said.

“Gold mines’

Scot Candell, a San Rafael attorney who specializes in cannabis law, said that while he had not read a report on the application procedure, a description of it didn’t seem alarming or “really much different from what other cities and counties are doing.” He noted that those with “better finances” have a big leg up on making it through the process. “There are not going to be mom and pop dispensaries,” he said.

“These things are going to be multimillion dollar operations,” Candell predicted. “They are going to be gold mines,” he added. “Think about having only four liquor stores in Marin.”

Marin’s application process involves a series of reviews involving county staff or affiliated committees, including an initial application review, analysis by an “internal staff working group” panel, a review by a Medical Cannabis Dispensary Advisory Committee in a procedure that involves a public meeting, and, finally, a review by County Administrator Matthew Hymel. If an applicant appeals Hymel’s decision, an appeal may be filed forcing the Board of Supervisors to take accountability.

Several fees

The application procedure will take “between four and eight months,” according to community Development Agency chief Brian Crawford, and won’t come cheap. Crawford and his assistant, Tom Lai, issued a report proposing the county charge an initial $6,000 application review fee in order to cover staff costs. There’s also an annual $12,000 “compliance monitoring fee” and a $1,200 fee to appeal decisions to the county board.

The application process includes a criminal background check and asks applicants to provide detailed information on issues ranging from tax records to employment history. A “project narrative” is required, along with a detailed business operating plan, location of the proposed dispensary, number of patients expected and other information. Among a series of questions to ponder: How the dispensary will operate “ensuring medical cannabis is not purchased or sold by the dispensary in a manner that would generate a profit.” Other areas of concern: “Controls that will assure medical cannabis will only be dispensed to qualifying patients or caregivers.”

Review process

Applicants also must provide site plans, a floor plan, neighborhood “context maps,” a security plan and a public benefit plan, among other application requirements. An application packet must be submitted complete with 10 photocopies, as well as supplemental documents, plus an “index that cross references responses” to all application requirements.

“Because of the competitive nature of the review process, staff is recommending that applicants be required to address additional factors that may warrant exceptional merit consideration,” according to the report. “Some examples include addressing local ownership, community relations, labor relations and living wage, green business, education services for patients and training for staff, referrals to resources for treatment services, access to medical cannabis by low income patients, and early compliance with the state’s labeling requirements.”

The Community Development Agency will be the lead agency administering the program on behalf of the county administration, and officials indicated new staff and consultants will be needed to lend a hand. “Due to the agency’s workload commitments, additional staff and/or contractor assistance will be necessary to assist with program implementation,” according to the report.

“Additional program implementation costs will be incurred by the county administrator’s office, county counsel and other departments related to the review of applications, and potential assistance with monitoring and enforcement.” No overall budget, staff or consultant cost, however, was provided.