Two cannabis dispensaries may be all that Manteca needs.

It’s a preliminary assessment made by mayoral hopeful Jacob Naven who is challenging incumbent Gary Singh in the November election.

Naven doesn’t dispute whether Manteca should have storefronts selling marijuana despite his personal perspective.

He noted marijuana is not only legal in California but President Trump’s decision to move toward reclassifying its status is likely to change the federal approach to cannabis.

What he doesn’t believe the city should do is automatically continue going forward with three licenses to sell in Manteca when two might do.

And he also wants to know why Nectar, after less than 10 months being opened in Manteca and investing easily $300,000 in building upgrades to the former Golden Bear Physical Therapy building northwest of Trevino Avenue and West Yosemite Avenue, is already closing down.

“If I were the mayor, I’d have an exit interview with Nectar to see what went wrong,” Naven said.

He’d want to find out the root cause of the closure whether it was on Nectar’s end such as being overextended or if the city created problems that led to its decision to pull the plug on its Manteca operations.

As an example, it took Lathrop less than half the time than Manteca to go from council decision to open the application process for cannabis dispensaries to actually awarding licenses.

Naven said in many cases Lathrop appears to process business-related applications and projects quicker than Manteca.

He believes the review should address impacts, if any, were caused by delays on the city’s part whether it is how plans for the cannabis store were processed, fees, or regulations.

Finding out where the marijuana market stands in Manteca is not just an academic question, if you will.

Three firms were awarded licenses in December 2023.

Off the Charts opened the first dispensary 14 months later in January of 2025. Nectar followed several months later.

The third, Embarc, was unable to nail down a lease for the location they were approved for on South Main Street behind Dairy Queen.

They are in the process of finding a different location that still must be vetted under the city’s strict rules where dispensaries can locate in terms of being near other uses such as schools, youth clubs, as well as housing and approved by the City Council.

Naven doesn’t believe the city should automatically start looking for a replacement cannabis dispensary even though the current ordinance allows three.

In fact, if a thorough re-examination shows it makes sense to change the ordinance from allowing three to just two, Naven said he would back a move to cut the number of allowed licenses down to two.

Some reasons why that may make sense for the city:

*Two locations would reduce the burdens placed on the police to monitor the dispensaries — there are live feeds required to the dispatch center from each store.

*It would reduce the financial tracking the city would have to do from three to two businesses.

*Having more locations wouldn’t necessarily increase municipal revenue and it could also make it more difficult for sustainability of the highly regulated storefront cannabis operations.

*It would avoid creating community angst regarding where a third location would now go given the South Main Street site fell through.

Naven suggested doing something that Mayor Singh has already started exploring which is seeing if Embarc is interested in the Nectar location and if they can reach a deal.

Naven noted the investments Nectar was required to make were “way beyond” what are typical tenant improvements due to security concerns.

He indicated he became familiar with how well dispensaries are regulated and secured while trying to “educate himself” on the matter by arranging a tour of Embarc’s Tracy location.

“I’m trying to do that with issues I would be dealing with (if I were elected mayor),” Naven said.

Not only was Naven impressed with the security measures and the screening process of customers, but was surprised that Embarc indicated their typical customer is a 50-year-old woman.

Naven, when he announced in September, questioned the need for three marijuana dispensaries in Manteca.

Personal preferences aside, he understands not only is cannabis use legal but it also can help some users with pain related to medical issues.

That said, as an insurance agent he has clients that have been involved in accidents where a driver causing the collision was under the influence of cannabis.

“I think they (the city) could be best served by just two dispensaries,” Naven said.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com