Late last month, the Guadalupe City Council voted unanimously to approve the opening of its first cannabis dispensary in town.
City Administrator Todd Bodem says the incoming cannabis retail shop, Element 7, will fill the vacant building on the 800 block of Guadalupe Street that was once home to Anthony’s Sports Bar.
He says another dispensary, Root One, could soon follow.
“They just submitted their conditional use permit, too, so they have to go through a whole entitlement process there,” Bodem told KSBY.
He says each business will have to abide by the city’s Community Benefit Agreement, in which an additional fee will be collected from each storefront to bolster Guadalupe’s general revenue funds.
“For recreation, parks, police, just general operations that will just add to the portfolio of revenue for the city,” he added.
Bodem says through the city’s budgeting plans for the 2023-24 fiscal year, he anticipates the incoming cannabis retailers could generate more than $300,000 for the city.
Michael Clark, who just moved to Guadalupe this past week, says he is on board.
“People are going to use cannabis either way and if it is going to help bring more money into the city and whatnot, I think that is only going to help,” Clark told KSBY. “We definitely need more firefighters, more police help and things of the sort, so if it is just going to add to the help, then why not?”
Other locals we spoke to voiced their concerns about potential safety risks of the growing cannabis industry in Guadalupe, but Bodem says those worries have been taken into consideration.
“We had five retail operations that had interviewed with the city, and the city decided they didn’t want to take all five. They wanted to narrow the scope down to two stores and start from there. I feel like that is a manageable size for the city,” Bodem told KSBY. “We don’t feel overly concerned about safety and security. We feel like these operations are pretty ironclad, and there is much regulation on them that is much stiffer than other industries.”
As Clark settles into his new digs in Guadalupe, he says he is optimistic about the future impact the incoming cannabis retailers will have on the town.
“As I can see right now, it seems like a very mellow city. ‘In the cut,’ I would say. And I think having a little more restaurants, a little more businesses would be cool,” he added.
Bodem says the City of Guadalupe is also reviewing an application for a cannabis processing plant that, if approved, could be operational sometime next year.
KSBY News reached out to Element 7 for comment on their planned Guadalupe storefront but we did not hear back.
