Seven applicants are vying for three coveted permits to legally sell marijuana in Manteca.

The sealed applications submitted by the May 8 deadline came with a non-refundable check for $10,000 to cover the exhaustive review process.

It is just the first step in a thorough multiple-step vetting procedures.

And unless there are three applicants that pass all requirements 100 percent, the city will not issue all three of the allowed permits.

The applications are being turned over to an  independent third-party consulting firm to vet. The firm has performed similar services for municipalities up and down California .

They will review each application to make sure they meet city requirements covering a wide array of concerns from financial stability, background checks, business plan, and operations and security.

The scoring process is designed to make sure the best possible outcome is obtained.

An example is the proposed locations within the areas in Manteca  that qualify for storefront cannabis operations under criteria established by the council.

While minimum distances from concerns such as schools, youth services and such have been established in the enabling ordinance, applications with locations that  exceed those minimum distances by the most could garner higher points on that part of the review process.

In other words, those applicants with the least obtrusive proposed location would be ranked higher.

The applicants that pass the first screening will then go onto a second step.

An outside legal firms along with the police department will do further vetting and conduct interviews.

The applications that pass the first two stages will then be sent to the city manager.

The city manager will then decide among those applications still standing which ones to recommend that the council consider approving.

It could be three, two, one, or none.

The council could also decide if they get three applications forwarded to them to do the same — approve one, one, two, or none. If they  approve only two for whatever reason and still want to award a third permit, they could instruct the city manager to forward then  another recommended applicant.

Despite concerns about the legal marijuana market struggling, there is every reason to expect legal sales to be a success in Manteca.

*Data gleaned from the state in 2019 showed there were more than 7,000 unique individuals in the two Manteca zip codes that visited Modesto marijuana stores.

*The legal market is $5 billion a year plus and growing.

*The production of legal marijuana is thoroughly tested and tracked from seed to point of sale.

 *Safety and convenience — just like with other successful retail — overcomes the price point issue for many.

*The variety and availability for product.

*Manteca is a growing market, increasing population 2 to 3 percent a year.

Legal cannabis sales  in the Golden State reached $5.3 billion in 2022. That’s based on figures released by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

BDS Analytics indicated it makes California the largest legal marijuana market in the world.

And while most marijuana industry experts say once illegal sales are factored into the overall value of marijuana sales in California, annual sales are double to five times as high with $26 million as the upper end. That said, the value of the annual increase in legal sales has far exceeded the rate of inflation and is up $2 billion from 2019 levels.

High bars have also been set for start-up costs by the City of Manteca.

Between what enhanced security measures the city is requiring  as well as the elaborate point-of-sale tracking system the state and the city both mandate, the investment in infrastructure above and beyond what other retail businesses would need can easily add $250,000 to the start-up costs.,

As such, the applicants that are likely to prevail in the Manteca review process have deep enough financial resources to meet the city’s criteria which means financial stability.

City leaders have repeatedly emphasized that they want to “do it right” when it comes to establishing and enforcing standards for marijuana sales.

The bottom line of the City Council is four-fold:

*It is a legal business in California. And while the city has the option not to get into the business, residents who want to purchase legal marijuana legal pot have to drive out of the community to do so.

*It is a safer product than illegal marijuana. From that aspect, it enhances public health and safety.

*The majority of Manteca voters on both the state and county measures supported legalized marijuana sales in California and in San Josquin County.

*The taxes Manteca residents are paying when buying legal marijuana in other jurisdictions is helping fund day-to-day municipal services in those cities. By having storefronts where Manteca consumers can buy cannabis legally within the city limits, it means those tax dollars already being spent by local residents can support municipal services in Manteca.

To contact Dennis Wyatt email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com