MONTEREY >> The Monterey City Council approved four storefront retail cannabis business permits for the top four applicants who applied for a spot at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

The council voted 4-0 to move forward with Monterey Responsible and Compliant Retail LLC (Embarc), Element 7 SF4 LLC (Element 7), Monterey Pacific Retail Holdings, Inc. (Culture Cannabis Club) and OTC Monterey, LLC (Off the Charts). Councilmember Ed Smith was absent.

City Council also held a drawing for the businesses to select their preferred location.

Element 7 was first and chose downtown Monterey. Off the Charts was next, selecting the Lighthouse Avenue location. Culture Cannabis Club chose the Wave Street area. Embarc was last and accepted location at North Fremont Street.The next steps will be for each business to obtain zone clearance and their spot will be contingent on it.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the Selection Committee, which consisted of Mayor Tyller Williamson and Vice Mayor Kim Barber, went over their criteria for scoring each applicant including things like their qualifications, business plan, security plan and sustainability.

Overall public comment was supportive of having dispensaries in Monterey in general.

Two issues were brought up that were addressed by City Council briefly, including the fact that all of the applicants had experience running dispensaries with locations in other cities across California.

One public speaker questioned if enough effort was put into ensuring there was diversity amongst the applicants.

Councilmember Alan Haffa also addressed concerns from an online video clip of Off the Charts, that reportedly showed the business in a bad light.

“There was a video on Youtube, and a statement to the fact of ‘we don’t have to pay our vendors’ and there were other choice words used to describe those vendors,” Haffa said.

A representative for OTC Monterey, LLC responded during public comment that the video was a 30-second clip taken out of context and that the business was committed to paying vendors an appropriate wage.

“A 30-second illegally recorded, out-of-context statement can really do a lot of damage,” said Sean Maddocks, with OTC Monterey, LLC.

“Off the Charts has opened 23 in California, and we continue to open those stores on terms with our vendors, meaning those vendors trust us to pay them on time.”

The Selection Committee also recommended four applicants be placed on a waitlist, in case any applicant drops out of the top four.

This includes Infinity Assets Monterey LLC, Montery Organic LLC, Monterey Retail Group, Inc. and Dispo Monterey LLC.