Residents of Sonoma are once again calling on city leaders to consider adding a second cannabis dispensary within city limits. On Wednesday, Sept. 17, the Sonoma City Council will review whether to direct staff to begin studying what opening an additional cannabis dispensary would entail.
Earlier this year, members of the Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group – a grassroots organization advocating for responsible access and fair cannabis policies – met with City Manager David Guhin to push for a second cannabis dispensary. They argue that more retail access is overdue and that the city’s ordinance already allows for two permits.
Currently, the San Francisco Patient and Resource Center (SPARC) operates the only permitted retail cannabis dispensary in Sonoma. Located at 19315 Sonoma Hwy., it opened in 2022 and has served as the city’s sole source for legal cannabis products ever since.
Local residents such as Perri Ellis Paniagua say SPARC has a “monopoly” and that adding a second cannabis dispensary would create new economic opportunities and more equitable pricing. According to Gil Latimer, founder of the Sonoma Valley Cannabis Group, the City Council originally agreed in 2021 to consider issuing a second permit but never followed through.
Latimer contends that four years later, Sonoma still has only one cannabis dispensary, which he says creates issues for medical patients, limits competition, and reduces potential tax revenue for city services. He believes a second cannabis dispensary would bring more stability and fairness to the local market.
Sonoma first approved a retail permit in 2019 and its ordinance allows for up to two. However, in 2023, the City Council rejected opening the application process for a second cannabis dispensary after a request from SPARC CEO Erich Pearson to delay further action for a year. Pearson cited structural problems in California’s cannabis industry and warned against oversaturating the market.
Two other dispensaries were opening nearby in Glen Ellen and Schellville at the time, which then-Vice Mayor John Gurney noted were only a few miles outside the city. Vice Mayor Ron Wellander said he preferred to hold off on the second permit but was not opposed to the idea permanently.
Now, Mayor Patricia Farrar-Rivas has said she believes revisiting the issue of a second cannabis dispensary is important for the council to address. The decision on Sept. 17 could determine whether Sonoma finally takes the next step toward issuing a second permit and expanding its legal cannabis options.
