Residents of Paso Robles can legally have adult-use cannabis delivered to their homes, but right now, that delivery must come from businesses located outside the city. But that could change.
On Feb. 10, the Paso Robles Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend an ordinance that would allow up to three locally based, delivery-only cannabis businesses to serve both medicinal and adult-use customers.
“The only commercial cannabis activity currently allowed in Paso Robles at a stationary location is non-storefront retail of medicinal cannabis (delivery offices). Non-storefront retail businesses located in Paso Robles cannot legally deliver adult use cannabis,” Planning Commission Associate Planner Katie Banister wrote in a report.
At the same time, state law prevents cities from banning deliveries from licensed operators based elsewhere.
“Currently, a resident of Paso Robles has the right to have adult use cannabis delivered to their home, but the delivery must originate from outside city limits,” she said.
If approved, the ordinance would amend a chapter of the municipal code to allow non-storefront cannabis retailers—businesses that do not allow customers on-site—to deliver adult-use cannabis.
The ordinance would cap delivery permits at three, a limit originally set by the City Council in 2022. Those permits were previously occupied by businesses temporarily allowed to deliver adult-use cannabis under a one-year sunset provision that expired in 2023.
During public comment, Megan Souza, owner of Megan’s Organic Market in San Luis Obispo, highlighted the benefits of delivery services for residents with mobility issues or living in rural areas.
“Delivery has become truly essential,” Souza told commissioners. “It assures people with mobility challenges, transportation barriers, and those living in the more rural North County areas. It allows them to access cannabis safely and legally.”
She added that Megan’s has entered into an agreement to lease a unit on Black Oak Drive for delivery services if the zoning amendment is adopted.
Other supporters stressed accountability and safety, noting that locally based delivery services make it easier for city officials to enforce rules and track compliance.
“What you guys are voting for is for the ability for the city of Paso Robles to allow safe, tested, and stringently tested by the [Department of Cannabis Control] standard product within your guys’ city limits,” said Lonnie Price, representing one of the existing cannabis office licensees. “People are going to attain, obtain cannabis in some way or another, and I think it’s important that you guys are, you know, allowing for the ability for patients to be able to get it that’s safe and you know, it’s all fully tested.”
Several speakers also pointed to lost revenue: City data shows Paso Robles collects roughly $46,000 annually in cannabis tax revenue from delivery businesses, far less than neighboring cities that allow storefront sales.
The ordinance includes additional safeguards to address neighborhood concerns. Delivery offices would need to maintain 600-foot buffers from schools, day care centers, youth centers, and public parks. On-site signage would be limited to 20 square feet, and highway-oriented or off-site advertising would be prohibited.
The measure makes clear that storefront dispensaries remain banned.
The proposed ordinance states that the City Council intends “to permit a maximum of three non-storefront (delivery-only) commercial cannabis retail businesses operating under discretionary conditional use permits in limited zoning districts, while prohibiting all storefront retail.” Cultivation, manufacturing, testing labs, distribution facilities, microbusinesses, and temporary cannabis events would also remain prohibited.
Commissioners acknowledged that cannabis policy remains a sensitive topic but emphasized that the recommendation focuses narrowly on delivery—an activity already allowed under state law.
They also noted that the ordinance is separate from the broader cannabis governance framework that the City Council directed staff to develop, which could eventually include discussions about storefront retail, following additional public outreach.
The cannabis delivery discussion will next go before the City Council. ∆
This article appears in Feb 19-26, 2026.
Blah, blah, blah ……blah, blah, blah.. marijuana is legal in California. We should have a store front for it. Paso still living in the old conservative ways. I know of a lot of older friends that grow and use it. Easier medication for their bodies. Stop fighting it relax and enjoy it.