Yountville voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted against a ballot measure that would have allowed the town to issue an operating permit to one cannabis retailer.
With all four of the town’s precincts reporting, unofficial results showed 797 voters in Yountville voting “no” on Measure T while 389 voted “yes” on the measure.
The Yountville Town Council placed Measure T on the ballot in June, placing the town on the cusp of becoming the second municipality in Napa County to permit cannabis sales, joining the city of Napa, which allows cannabis sales to people with a medical recommendation.
The measure would have enabled the city of Yountville to issue one yearlong business permit to a cannabis dispensary each year.
The city would have also been able to collect annual taxes of up to 3% of a cannabis dispensary’s annual gross revenue, resulting in between $30,000 and $100,000 in annual tax revenue.
The measure included certain requirements, preventing cannabis retailers from operating near residential zones or within 300 feet of a church or school, but does not include details about zoning, which city officials would have hashed out at a later date if voters approved the measure.
Measure T was one of two ballot measures appearing on some voters’ ballots in Napa County.
In St. Helena, unofficial results were dead even on the nonbinding Measure G, which expresses an opinion on whether a hotel development on a 5.6-acre parcel at the corner of Library Lane and Adams Street should be prohibited for 20 years.
With all six of St. Helena’s precincts reporting, 973 ballots were case for and 973 against the measure.
St. Helena resident Nancy Dervin spearheaded the effort to place the measure on the ballot, arguing that turning the parcel into a hotel would harm the environment.
“Every decision we make regarding land development is of critical importance,” Dervin said during the St. Helena City Council’s July 14 meeting, when the council placed Measure G on the ballot.
“Only on Adams Street require the permanent installation of hardscape over agricultural land and open space,” Dervin said.
Napa County Registrar of Voters John Tuteur said the county had processed nearly 44,000 votes as of Tuesday night, the vast majority of which were returned by mail, ballot drop box or in-person to county election officials.
More votes across the county are expected to be reported Friday as well as next week, according to Tuteur.
“I hope to have another 8,000 ballots in that Friday count,” Tuteur said.
