CannaHub Coming Soon!
The City of Hawthorne's NEW Cannabis Job Portal

The cannabis industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in America. Job opportunities in the industry, will soon be listed on this page which will provide you with current information on who is hiring and how to apply for the job.

 FAQs

• Selected Applicant Questions & Answers - Update 05-12-23
• Response To Comments & FAQs -  Update 01-18-23  (Includes the webinar Q&A)

 UPDATE 8-16-23

 LIVESCAN FORMS:  Applicants must submit completed livescan forms to the city for review with their completed CUP application materials.  The city will review the forms to determine compliance with the cannabis ordinance background requirements PRIOR to applicants completing fingerprinting.  Please complete the applicant information on the livescan form and submit the form with the CUP application.  Applicants will receive further instruction after the review of the CUP application.

CUP APPLICATION TIPS:  The following tips can help expedite the review of your CUP application and ensure your project meets the applicable City standards:

 Hawthorne’s Commitment to Expedite the Development Process

The City of Hawthorne is dedicated to streamlining and expediting the development process making it more efficient for cannabis businesses to bring their projects to life. Recognizing the importance of fostering growth and economic vitality, the city administration has implemented a series of measures aimed at reducing barriers and creating a conducive environment for progress.

Our commitment to expediting the development process encompasses several key initiatives. Through enhanced coordination among departments, we aim to facilitate smoother communication and collaboration, ensuring timely approvals and resolving any potential roadblocks efficiently.

Furthermore, we have implemented a user-friendly online platform that allows applicants to find zoning and property information, identify proposed cannabis locations (both retail and non-retail) and measure distances to/from city-adopted sensitive uses. Our goal is to embrace digital solutions and enhance accessibility, simplifying the process for all involved stakeholders.  Click here to access the NEW interactive GIG Mapping Tool.

By investing in staff training and providing them with updated resources, we ensure that our team is knowledgeable and equipped to guide applicants through the development process. Clear guidelines and standardized procedures will not only improve efficiency but also foster transparency and fairness.

In addition, the Building and Safety Department will now accept applications for concurrent processing.  Concurrent processing allows applicants to request a construction permit prior to the approval of a required land use permit (including any required appeal periods for the land use permit).  More specifically, cannabis retail projects require a conditional use permit which will be reviewed by the planning commission as the decision-making authority on conditional use permits. 

 If an applicant wishes to pull building permits while their conditional use permit is being processed, the applicant can apply for concurrent processing.   Applications for concurrent processing will be accepted after the conditional use permit application determination has been made.  Typically, the applicant will receive instructions for concurrent processing and the required application forms with their determination letter.  Both property owner and project applicant must complete a signed application to process the request.  Once approved by Planning, a copy of the approved application form will be provided to the applicant to submit with their building permit application(s).

Conditional Use Permit Information for Retailers –   PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 5.100 (COMMERCIAL CANNABIS BUSINESS) OF TITLE 5 (BUSINESS REGULATION AND LICENSES), DIVISION II (BUSINESSES REGULATED), Section 5.100.80(F)-- Application Submittal, Screening and Scoring Process:  The top applicants in each license category… are required to secure a viable business location and a conditional use permit from the Planning Department.

 Further, Section 5.100.100 Post Screening Process states,

A.     If a conditional use permit is required pursuant to Chapter 17.90, The top applicants from the screening process should make an application for conditional use permit to the Planning Department within 6 months of screening application approval to ensure time for the approval before the deadline pursuant to section 5.100.080(F)(3).

B.      Planning department review and approval of the facade consistent with the application shall be obtained before a business license will be issued. A conditional use permit approval also serves to meet this requirement.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR CANNABIS RETAIL BUSINESSES:

•   Conditional Use Permit applications for cannabis retail businesses will be accepted Monday, July 3, 2023, through Friday, September 22, 2023, via email.  Please do not submit CUP applications before July 3^rd or after September 22^nd.
•  All applicants MUST pay permit fees prior to submitting the CUP application.  Fees can be paid at the City Cashier’s Office located at City Hall.  A copy of the payment receipt must be submitted with the application.  Applications received without a copy of the payment receipt will be returned to the applicant without review.  PLEASE BE SURE THE CORRECT FEE AMOUNT HAS BEEN PAID AND THE AMOUNT IS REFLECTED ACCURATELY ON THE PAYMENT RECEIPT.
•  Applicants will be notified within 10 business days if the application materials are incomplete (i.e., missing any required document(s)).  Missing documents must be submitted within the time frame outlined in the incomplete application notice.  This initial review is to ensure all application materials are submitted for staff review.
• Applicants will receive a Completion Determination Notice within 30 days of submission of a complete application package.   This notice will outline any incomplete or supplemental information needed to complete staff review or prepare planning reports.  In the event the determination cannot be made within 30 days, applicants will be notified and provided with an expected date for the notice. 
• All applications must be complete and submitted using the primary owner contact email provided on the original cannabis business application.    Please do not allow third-party representatives (attorneys, consultants, real estate agents, others not identified as primary owner contacts) to submit the application on behalf of the business, as staff will exclusively communicate with verified owner contacts during this time.  Failure to follow this instruction may result in delays or rejection of the CUP application.

 To download the application materials, please click the links below.

Conditional Use Permit for Cannabis Retail Application

Background Investigation Live Scan Form

Information Regarding Background Investigations - 

PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 5.100 (COMMERCIAL CANNABIS BUSINESS) OF TITLE 5 (BUSINESS REGULATION AND LICENSES), DIVISION II (BUSINESSES REGULATED) Section 5.100.040(E) Minimum Criteria for Issuing a Cannabis Business License, the applicant, owners, and proposed manager shall undergo a background investigation by the Hawthorne Police Department.

Please note that the applicant(s) or proposed or prospective managers, will be evaluated for convictions related to possession, manufacture, sales, or distribution of a controlled substance other than cannabis; any offense involving the use of force of violence; any offense involving theft, fraud, dishonesty, or deceit.   Under the city’s cannabis ordinance, all managers must undergo a background investigation by the Hawthorne Police Department.  As such, Conditional Use Permits may include a condition of approval requiring all current and future managers of the retail business to undergo a background investigation.

DELIVERY LICENSE UPDATE:  

On March 22^nd, applicants who applied for delivery service licenses, but were not selected as Top Applicants for storefront retail, were notified that they could be added to the waiting list for delivery licenses.  The deadline to join the delivery license waitlist was April 1st.    On April 16^th, applicants who did not respond or otherwise did not request to be added to the delivery waitlist were again notified that their pending delivery applications would be deemed terminated by April 20^th.

The city has authorized two (2) additional delivery licenses, for a total of five (5) delivery licenses.  The additional licensees are identified below.  

Applicants Approved for Delivery Service (Previously Whitelisted)

UPDATE 6.8.23

 The city is currently developing an interactive mapping tool which will allow applicants to find property information, including zoning, distance from sensitive uses and the proposed locations of cannabis retail businesses.  Please note cannabis retail locations are PROPOSED.  All cannabis retail businesses are subject to Conditional Use Permit approval.  No retail business licenses have been granted to date. 

Non-retail applicants will be required to use the mapping tool to evaluate their proposed property before submitting the zoning verification form.  However, applicants (non-retail) with a property secured before the mapping tool is available may proceed with submitting a single zoning verification form.  Multiple zoning verification forms may not be submitted for staff preliminary review. 

To view the PDF version (not interactive) of the mapped information currently available, please click here.  

EMAIL UPDATE:  Please be advised that the city cannabis email should be used by applicants moving forward with the cannabis business licenses process.   Applicant emails will be responded to in the order they are received.  Please allow 10 business days for responses as some questions require additional research.  General inquiries or emails received from email addresses other than those indicated as owner contacts may not receive a response.  ALL EMAILS SHOULD BE SENT FROM OWNER CONTACT EMAILS.  Law firms, real estate agencies, consultants and other representatives, not listed as owner contacts on the cannabis business application, must process all inquiries through the business owner contacts.

CANNABIS BUSINESS LICENSE INFORMATIONAL:  The city will host a business license informational on May 23, 2023.  This informational is designed to assist applicants moving forward with cannabis business licensing.  Registration is required and limited to two tickets per business.  Registration and location information will be provided via email to business owner contacts.  If you are an applicant moving forward with licensing and do not receive the registration information by 5/15, please send an email requesting the information using your business owner contact email address.

Delivery Licenses:  Applicants who applied for delivery service with their retail application, but have not yet been selected for delivery (non-storefront retail), may request to be added to the city's delivery waiting list.  Please be advised, the city has authorized three of the eight delivery businesses allowed by ordinance.  Applicants must request to be added to the waiting list by April 1, 2023.  If an applicant fails to submit the request by the deadline, the applicant will NOT be added to the waiting list and the city will consider the delivery application to be terminated.  Eligible applicants may join both the retail and delivery (non-storefront retail) waiting list. 

Zoning Verification Forms - Zoning verification forms may be submitted via email for any prospective property or for secured properties.  There is no additional charge for zoning review.  

 Applicant Q + A - The city will continue to post responses to questions received via email.  Inquiries made by applicants after the application selection process will be posted on the Applicant Q+A.  Questions received prior to application submission can still be found on the FAQ sheet under the FAQ's tab. 

 Requests for Application Information - The city will process any requests for scoring or other application information once the application process is complete (delivery licenses are pending).  Please note that all applications received a collective score/rank by the EP.  As such, there are no individual panelist scoring records to provide.  

March 22, 2023 Announcement

TOP APPLICANT LIST:

PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE 2235 [(CHAPTER 5.100 (COMMERCIAL CANNABIS BUSINESS) TO TITLE 5 (BUSINESS REGULATION AND LICENSES), DIVISION II (BUSINESSES REGULATED) SECTION 5.100.080 APPLICATION SUBMITTAL, SCREENING AND SCORING PROCESS], THE CANNABIS APPLICANT RANKING SHALL BE PUBLICLY POSTED AFTER ALL APPLICATIONS HAVE BEEN REVIEWED AND SCORED BY THE EVALUATION PANEL.

Please check the website regularly for more information regarding next steps in the business license process, including posting of the retail and delivery waiting list.

**N/A indicates no licenses were approved at this time.

---

March 9, 2023 Announcement

APPLICATION ELIGIBILITY LIST: 

PURSUANT TO ORDINANCE 2235 [(CHAPTER 5.100 (COMMERCIAL CANNABIS BUSINESS) TO TITLE 5 (BUSINESS REGULATION AND LICENSES), DIVISION II (BUSINESSES REGULATED) SECTION 5.100.080 APPLICATION SUBMITTAL, SCREENING AND SCORING PROCESS], THE CANNABIS APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY LIST SHALL BE PUBLICLY POSTED WITHIN 60 DAYS OF THE APPLICATION SUBMISSION DEADLINE (JANUARY 19, 2023). 

As such, the follow applicants have been deemed eligible for application processing and will be evaluated for cannabis business licenses. 

Please note that retail applications will be evaluated by the Cannabis Application Evaluation Panel and results of the panel’s final decision will be posted on the City’s website.  Please check the website regularly for updates.

EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS:   Email communications regarding the application process, received by the city after the application submission deadline (January 19, 2023), will be answered after the application review and evaluation period has ended.

January 18, 2023 Announcement

MULTIPLE OPERATIONS DISCLAIMER: 

Please be advise that all information contained in Sub-Section 1E entitled Multiple Operations in the City of Hawthorne Cannabis Screening Application must be  true and correct and accurately reflect the cannabis business work plan at the time of application submission.  The maximum scoring for this sub-section is 60 points and point allocation is based on integrated facilities to promote efficiencies of scale.

Applications can be re-scored, points re-allocated, or re-ranked if the initial operational plan under the above-referenced sub-section is changed, altered or cannot be implemented prior to the issuance of the Conditional Use Permit (CUP).  Reasons for lack of implementation include, but not limited to, inability to find a building in zoned area, building cannot accommodate all planned uses, building size, zoning issues, decision not to operate one or more of the uses stated the initial cannabis screening application, or any foreseen or unforeseen circumstance that may prevent me from meeting any building and or zoning standard or requirement.

No cannabis retail business licenses will be approved until all top applicants have been identified. 

 APPEAL DISCLAIMER:

The city’s administrative code section 5.16.010 entitled “Appeal from Administrative Decisions” does not apply to cannabis business licenses, as specified by adopted Ordinance 2236.  As such, there is no appeal process for cannabis business license applications.  All decisions made by the Application Evaluation Panel are final.

January 3, 2023 Announcement

APPLICANT WEBINAR:  The city held the applicant informational webinar on 12.29.22.  Questions received during the webinar were answered live.  Questions that staff were unable to answer live will be addressed on the FAQ document.  The deadline for submitting questions was December 30, 2022.  While applicants may continue to submit questions via email, the city will not guarantee a response prior to application submission.   

December 22, 2022 Announcement  

The City has received several questions/comments regarding the application process.  Questions or inquires sent to cannabis@cityofhawthorne.org will be posted on this page with the City's response to each.  If, after reviewing the responses, you have additional questions, you are encouraged to submit supplemental or additional questions via email.  Please note, duplicate questions may be omitted from the Response to Comments & FAQ updates.  Please check back weekly for updates as updates will be posted as they become available each week. 

December 1, 2022 Announcement               

The City Council voted to adopt Ordinance No. 2235 on November 8, 2022.  The ordinance allowing commercial cannabis business, including up to 6 retail business will go into effect on December 8, 2022.  Ordinance No. 2235 in its entirety is attached to this page.  It is highly recommended that those interested in the cannabis business review the ordinance before submitting their application(s) and paying the nonrefundable fee(s).   

On November 29, 2022, the City Council approved Resolution No. 8384 which set the cannabis licensing application, Conditional Use Permit and other fees related to the commercial cannabis business.  The Resolution is attached to this page under the Additional Application Resources tab.

In January 2023, the City Council will consider the zone text amendment regarding the cannabis businesses.

• The map of the city displaying the distancing from schools & sensitive places and the zoning that will be part of the proposed zone text amendment as approved by the planning commission is attached under the Additional Application Resources tab.

December 9, 2022 Announcement

The City of Hawthorne has initiated the application process for Cannabis Business Licenses.  Information provided below is intended to provide interested parties with application forms, processing information, and other important factors related to the application process.  The City will hold an informational for prospective applicants and interested parties via Zoom on December 29, 2022 at 5:00 PM.  Please use the following link to register: Cannabis Business License Information Webinar

Notice of Application Period

The City will accept applications December 19, 2022 until January 19, 2023.  Please refer to the application informational packet, under the Application Forms tab,  for submission instructions.

Application Period

Start Date: Monday, December 19, 2022 10:00AM                                              
Close Date for Storefront Applications: Thursday, January 19, 2023 2:00PM

 Application Intake Reservations 

Reservations can be made using the online reservation system.  To make an application intake reservation, please click here. All walk-in applicants checked-in by 2:00PM will be entered into the submittal queue and will be served in the order of arrival, based on staff availability. There will be NO EXCEPTIONS to the 2:00 PM cutoff time. All prospective applicants arriving after 2:00 PM will be asked to return.

The following application documents and forms are required to obtain a new Commercial Cannabis Permit. 

Application Packet 

• Application Instructions (Updated 12-22-22 - Additional information is highlighted)
  
• Application Cover Sheet

Business Plan (including Design  Concept, Security Plan and Applicant Experience)

• Form No. 1 – Owner/Application Information Form (Updated 1-2-23 - Additional information is highlighted)
  
• Form No. 2 – Waiver and Release of Liability Form
• Form No. 3 – Verification Authorization Form
• Form No. 4 – Application Disclosure Form
• Form No. 5 – Zoning Verification Form
• Attachment A – Scoring Criteria Sheet
• Attachment B – Fee Schedule

Cannabis Retail Conditional User Permit Application

Request For Live Scan Service

• Ordinance No. 2235 - Cannabis Business License
• Ordinance No. 2236 - Amendment to Admin Appeals
• Ordinance No. 2237 - Cannabis Zoning Text Amendment
• Resolution No. 8384 - Adopted Cannabis Fees
• CPRA Exemptions Handout - CA Public Records Act Exemption
• Cannabis Buffers Zoning Map
• Cannabis Prospective Applicant Webinar - YouTube video December 29, 2022