San Bruno picks pot shop

During public comment, more than a dozen people vouched for Embarc because they said the store is thoughtful in its contributions to the community. Around a dozen Embarc employees also spoke during the public comment section vouching for the family oriented business.

Lauren Carpenter, Embarc founder and CEO, said the company’s priority is becoming part of the community.

“While we are able to build on Embarc’s loyalty and our Embarc brand presence, we are also able to build upon the deep local roots that we create in each of the communities we serve to really maximize impact,” Carpenter said.

Part of that work is its community advisory board, which has eight community members to serve and manage the community benefit money the city receives. Embarc plans to allocate 1% of the gross receipts to the city for the lifetime of the business. That should amount to $1.675 million over five years, according to Embarc’s presentation.

The company addresses regional challenges through its advisory board. Embarc funded a youth drug, education and prevention program in one community it serves. The case study was so successful, that it gave the information to a neighboring school district, Carpenter said.

“And that school district is now working with us to ultimately deploy that curriculum,” Carpenter said.

During the public comment period, a letter from Bryan Vander Lugt, vice president of the San Bruno Education Foundation, was read. In it, he said he endorses Embarc because of the company’s efforts with its youth drug education and prevention program.

“It is imperative to me, any conversation about local implementations of local cannabis activity done so with the utmost care,” Vander Lugt said in the letter.

Commercial cannabis has been a contentious topic in San Bruno when, in 2020, it was introduced as a way to generate revenue. In January, the City Council approved an amendment to reduce the number of cannabis retail stores allowed in the city from three to one and increase its distribution centers from one to two. As a way to protect minors, the City Council decided to restrict possible cannabis locations from The Shops at Tanforan and a large portion of San Mateo Avenue, the city’s downtown.

The Embarc team engaged in community outreach to help determine the best location for a storefront. As a result, they found a standalone building with a parking lot at 120-124 El Camino Real at San Marco Avenue in the southern end of the city. The store is 100 feet from a bus stop and its design plan will provide bicycle parking. Carpenter said the building doesn’t border existing homes, according to a presentation.

The store plans to mitigate traffic at its storefront by incentivizing in-home delivery and using a loyalty program to drive sales during non-peak hours. It also plans to provide a valet service and will educate customers to buy online and pick up in store to create a quicker service, according to the presentation.

Embarc has never experienced break-ins or robberies and Carpenter said she wants to work with the city and city staff on how best to regulate the cannabis operator. She also said she would be willing to install a license plate reader near the store if the city requires it.

“Its ongoing collaboration and conversation with staff and the police department and looking to work with a city who is approaching this as a collaborative effort,” Carpenter said.

Embarc has nine stores, one of which is in Redwood City, and 400 employees. It is also a union affiliated employer.

nick@smdailyjournal.com

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