Sacramento City Council Grants One Year Extension to CORE Cannabis Applicant After Fire Destroyed Project Site

(SACRAMENTO, CA) — The Sacramento City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a one‑year extension for a Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity (CORE) participant whose storefront dispensary permit was set to expire on April 1. The decision came after multiple speakers urged the council to consider the extraordinary circumstances — including a devastating fire — that derailed the applicant’s original project.

The Sacramento Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity Program, known as CORE, was created by the city of Sacramento to help individuals from communities disproportionately impacted by past cannabis enforcement enter the legal cannabis industry. The program provides technical assistance, fee assistance, and priority access to certain cannabis business permits. Sacramento maintains a strict cap of 43 storefront dispensary permits citywide, making each permit opportunity highly competitive. Unlike alcohol licenses issued by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which can generally be transferred or sold and are not tied to a capped city program, Sacramento’s dispensary permits are tightly limited and often linked to specific applicants in the Sacramento Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity Program, making timelines and extensions more consequential. As such, extensions like the one granted Tuesday can also affect when the next-ranked CORE applicant has an opportunity to move forward with their own storefront project.

In recent years, several CORE participants have struggled to bring storefront projects to completion within the program’s five-year operational window, citing challenges such as financing, property acquisition, regulatory requirements, and neighborhood approvals. Those hurdles have made permit timelines and extension requests an increasingly scrutinized part of Sacramento’s cannabis licensing process.

With their permit set to expire, applicants Christopher Cannon and Jared Hill have requested a one‑year extension to complete their relocation and rebuilding efforts. Their original project site was lost after a large fire broke out on Monday, February 2, at an abandoned building near 1511 Del Paso Boulevard in Old North Sacramento.

The council were now deciding on two options: deny the extension to Christopher Cannon and Jared Hill and move to the next person on the list or extend the permit to April 1, 2027.

During public comment, supporters described the applicant’s setbacks and commitment.

Applicant Christopher Cannon emphasized the project’s purpose, telling councilmembers,“This isn't just a business venture for us; it is a commitment to Sacramento CORE. Jared and I have aligned resources and reputation to make this a success. We've invested significant personal capital and years of equity, sweat, because we believe in the intent of this project to create local, minority-owned success stories.”

Cannon described the fire that destroyed their original property, stating, “As many of you know, our original site was lost to a devastating fire, and for most that would have been the end. But we didn't walk away. We stayed in Sacramento. We kept our team together.”

(Jared Hill delivers an emotional plea to the council. Photo provided by Metro 14 Youtube video.)

Applicant Jared Hill delivered an emotional plea: "I'm proud to stand here before you tonight. I'm humbled, I'm humiliated, infuriated, I'm sad, and I'm speaking from the heart. I can't even read what I was asked to read…This has been hard. It's been a lot. But we won't walk away. And we won't. We're close. We didn't set that fire at 1511 Del Paso Boulevard; we bought it. Shane Curry, the owner, and his wife agreed to lease it to us and sell it to us on favorable terms, knowing we would turn it into something that Sacramento could be proud of. And it burnt down. Other buildings in North Sac are burning down.”

Hill added that despite setbacks, their team remained committed and the found a new site in District 1: “We’re going to make Sacramento proud. We bleed 916. We are Sacramento’s own sons. Help us get this done.”

Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, who made the motion to grant the extension, said the fire qualified as an extraordinary circumstance:
“I always think boundaries and timelines are good… but we’re looking at something that is a force de jure — Mother Nature had her own designs… I think it’s appropriate that we look at items that have maybe a one‑time exception.”

She added a firm expectation that this would be the applicant’s only extension:
“This is it. You get that one‑year extension to get it up and going.”

OpGov.news reached out to Lisa Kaplan to ask what led her to set such a firm final deadline on the case and received no reply.

Councilmember Caity Maple highlighted the severe challenges CORE members face:
“We know it’s really challenging for anyone to open up a dispensary… in this case a whole building burned down. It’s completely outside your control and absolutely in line with the reason for us to grant an extension.”

Councilmember Caity Maple also did not respond to OpGov.news questions by the time of this publication.

With no opposition from the dais, the measure passed unanimously. Under the approved extension, the applicant must demonstrate progress by December 31, and open no later than April 1, 2027.

Submit Sacramento County tips and story ideas to Sarah Denos at sarahkdenos@gmail.com.