Vista marijuana measure heading toward passage

A ballot drive to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in Vista passed with 51 percent of the vote, according to preliminary election results released Wednesday.

Measure Z, proposed by the pro-pot organization Vistans for Safe Community Access, would authorize retail medical marijuana sales at up to 11 shops in the city, and set a 7 percent special tax on gross sales.

The measure would make Vista the first city in North County to allow storefront marijuana sales. It’s the product of a two-year campaign to gain a foothold in the city, during which proponents invested $575,000 in petition drives and campaign efforts.

Measure BB, a city-sponsored alternative that would allow just three delivery-only dispensaries, fell short on election day, just shy of 45 percent of the vote.

“Measure Z does appear to be very well on its way to passage, and it’s a clear statement by the voters of Vista that they prefer storefronts over delivery-only service,” said Cody Campbell, a spokesman for the campaign.

However, the city’s marijuana tax proposal, Measure AA, which sets a range of tax rates for marijuana sales and cultivation, passed by a similar margin to the citizens initiative.

If two competing ballot measures both exceed 50 percent, the one with the higher number of votes prevails, legal experts said. In Vista, however, there are overlapping provisions among the ballot measures. So it’s unclear which would govern tax rates on new marijuana retailers, if the city’s tax measure gains more votes than the citizens initiative proposal.

The numbers released Tuesday morning represented election returns from 100 percent of precincts, the San Diego County Registrar reported. But nearly half a million individual ballots remained uncounted, and the outcome of the measure was not final.

“At the moment, what comes next is we’re waiting for a formal vote count,” City Attorney Darold Pieper said. “Obviously there are hundreds of thousands of ballots outstanding. We will not evaluate the next step until we know how the votes on both measures turns out.”

Campbell noted that the citizens proposal was leading with several hundred votes, and said proponents are optimistic it will prevail.

If Measure Z wins in final vote counts, the city would prepare to accept applications and approve licenses for marijuana dispensaries early next year, Pieper said.

“We would need to develop all of the application forms and our rules for evaluating the sufficiency of the applications,” he said. “We’re standing by and waiting.”

Measure Z, proposed by the pro-pot organization Vistans for Safe Community Access, qualified for the ballot last September, allowing city voters to weigh in Tuesday on retail marijuana sales.

The proposal followed two separate petition drives starting in 2016. The first was rejected for technical errors in the paperwork, while the final measure qualified for this year’s midterm election.

In June, the city council approved an alternate ballot initiative that would permit more restricted marijuana business. The city also floated Measure AA, which would tax marijuana cultivation at $14 per square foot of cultivation facilities, and tax gross sales at up to 3.5 percent for testing labs, 8 percent for manufacturing and distribution, 10 percent for medical cannabis, and 12 percent for adult-use pot sales.

Campbell said that regardless of the tax rates, medical marijuana retailers would begin planning to secure city licenses, as well as the state licenses required. Although the measure allows up to 11 dispensaries, he said it’s likely there would be about half that many to start. He said the measure’s apparent success in Vista should guide other cities’ efforts to regulate marijuana sales.

“After the dust settles, other jurisdictions in San Diego and beyond San Diego County, need to look at how they can look at the sale of medical cannabis, and where appropriate, adult-use cannabis, without going to the ballot,” Campbell said.

deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan