20th marijuana business is awarded permit in Costa Mesa; 3 other requests are delayed

What looked to be a sizable slate of marijuana-related matters largely evaporated Monday night as the Costa Mesa Planning Commission ended up approving one application and pushing three others to a future meeting.

Following the flurry of delays, the commission voted 4-0 to award a conditional use permit to Expando Products LLC, a marijuana product manufacturer that would operate in a 2,818-square-foot space at 3505 Cadillac Ave., Unit N2. Commission Vice Chairman Byron de Arakal was absent.

The approval is final unless appealed to the City Council within seven days.

Expando Products is the 20th marijuana firm to receive approval for a conditional use permit from the city. Such businesses are allowed in a specified area of Costa Mesa north of South Coast Drive and west of Harbor Boulevard under the voter-approved Measure X.

The Expando facility would receive deliveries of cannabis oil, which workers would heat and inject into vape cartridges. Finished products would then be packaged and stored at the facility until a distributor collects them.

Commissioner Carla Navarro Woods said Expando’s location has “desirable characteristics” for this kind of business.

“I like that it’s shielded away from public view and they’re not sharing any interior or exterior spaces with other tenants that could potentially be not OK with the operation,” she said.

Expando still needs city fire prevention, finance and building safety approvals to finalize its local marijuana business permit and obtain a Costa Mesa business license. State approval also is required.

Commissioners delayed the following permit requests until their Dec. 10 meeting to give staff additional time to work out details with the applicants:

• Tranz LLC, which is looking to open in a 2,109-square-foot space at 3505 Cadillac, Unit M-102
• Potology LLC, which proposes to occupy 2,620 square feet at 3505 Cadillac, Building H
• Triiad, which is seeking to operate in 2,035 square feet at 3525 Hyland Ave., Suite 265

luke.money@latimes.com

Twitter @LukeMMoney