michael christianson, department staff. today we have an informational presentation for you by the city's office of cannabis on the activities and permit requirements of that office, as well as the overall permitting process for cannabis businesses in the city. adult use cannabis was legalized under state law via proposition 24, passed in 2016. san francisco followed by adopting new zoning and licensing regulations which came into effect in january of 2018. for the first few months, the planning department's work was focused on legalizing operations if their zoning did not permit their uses. in may of 2018, new sites were opened, but only applicants qualified as equity applicant or incubator. to this day those applications are only open to those groups. applicants first have to get through part one of the city's office of cannabis licensing application and be formally referred to the planning department. the first new site to be referred to the planning department was referred on september 28 of 2018. as of today, a total o

i would like to thank michael christianson for reviewing our application and all you've done for the equity program. and a sincere thanks to our planner bridget hicks. i'm chris kalway, the project sponsor. i've lived all over our great city for 20 years and consider hays valley to be my home. i'm a father of a child and a founder of the laguna arts project. i was recently honored with being awarded this permit for my store. i've seen firsthand the impact cannabis can have on the lives of those who need it most and have devoted 15 years of my life to medical cannabis. the challenges of obtaining equitable participation in the cannabis industry begins with securing real estate, investment capital, and finding like-minded individuals to partner with. given the uncertainty of the process for private investors, raising capital before securing a property can be stressful and challenging. i am still the sole owner of mr. c.'s and i have full control over how its future will look. at an equity event i attended in spring of 2018, michael christianson spoke and had some advice of finding stor