MONTEREY — Elected officials in Monterey will revisit the debate over joining most of the rest of the Peninsula in allowing cannabis dispensaries in the city. Citing sales-tax revenue being siphoned off to other cities, council members this week voted 4-1 to place it on a meeting agenda as soon as September.

Councilman Alan Haffa, who requested that the council consider the topic, said that roughly seven in 10 voters in Monterey supported the legalization of cannabis for recreational use in 2016. In the past, Haffa said, the council has taken a wait-and-see approach.

“In the interim, we’ve seen Del Rey Oaks open a successful dispensary; Seaside opened a number of dispensaries; we’ve seen a dispensary in The Barnyard in Carmel and recently Marina has moved forward,” he said.

Hard data on the economic impact legal dispensaries would have in Monterey is nonexistent, but tax revenue in the unincorporated areas of Monterey County generated $11.3 million after growers brought in $450 million in sales, according to county data.

“The impact of COVID-19 highlights the need for diversity in our business sector, and despite our best efforts we will be seeing empty storefronts in the near future,” Haffa said. “It can increase jobs and business opportunities, as well as generating city revenue we are sorely in need of.”

Councilman Dan Albert, who voted to place on a future agenda the current moratorium on cannabis, said he believes the council should at least have the discussion since it is a different council than when it was first brought up.

“I would like to see a staff analysis on where we would propose to have the businesses and what restrictions would be in place and would it be medicinal or recreational?” Albert said. “It’s a valuable thing to at least discuss.”

Callers into this week’s council meeting were also in support of allowing dispensaries in the city. Kelly Violini, the chief executive of the Monterey County Fairgrounds and Event Center told council members that she would support such a move.

“It’s no secret that myself and my board of directors are very interested in this topic and we are supporters of cannabis events in the future,” she said. “I would urge the city to continue researching the revenue it can bring to Monterey.”

Valentia Piccinini with Synchronicity Holistic Cannabis Dispensary next to The Barnyard in Carmel provided the council with her story and how cannabis is a quality of life issue. As a sufferer of both cancer and multiple sclerosis, she was wheelchair-bound when Stanford University Medical Center referred her to cannabis dispensaries in Santa Cruz.

Now, while still walking with a cane, she is out of the wheelchair and enjoying a much better quality of life.

“People in Monterey frequent our store often — at least once a week for pain management, sleeplessness and treatment of different diseases,” Piccinini said. “Monterey is losing out on the tax revenues and it would be my intention to have another one there.”

Monterey Mayor Clyde Roberson also shared an experience that during a conversation with a doctor he knows, he told Roberson that he was treating elderly people for chronic pain who were on powerful opioids and were basically bed-ridden.

“But with the use of cannabis it was almost miraculous and some of these folks got off those heavy drugs and become functional again,” Roberson said. “This doctor had no skin in the game and wasn’t making any money off it. It was a very convincing argument.”

Not convincing enough for Councilman Ed Smith, the one dissenting vote for placing it on the agenda for a future meeting. While he agreed with his colleagues that the playing field has changed, he wouldn’t support it citing his law enforcement career.

“I think there are a plethora of locations for people to acquire what it is they need to acquire in our neighboring cities so I just don’t see why we need to have it here,” he said.

Councilman Tyller Williamson said that the time to move is now, considering the time it would take to get the city code changed and allow businesses to acquire property before they start generating revenue.

“I think the sooner the better. I’m not supporting this solely for the revenue piece but that is a good motivation particularly at this time. It’s the right thing to do. The majority of residents support it.”