Not so fast, boys.

You never would know it by the way the City Council is breaking the speed limit roaring down the freeway.

City Manager John Nachbar, whose back may be parallel with a wall when the legal Marijuana Era begins in a few weeks, estimates it will be close to a year before the first cannabis dispensaries open in Culver City.

“Summer at the absolute earliest,” he says.

“Just watching businesses, any business, it takes a long time to go through a process and get up and running.”

Cannabis dispensary operators “are going to have to go through a regulatory review process. Then they will have to secure a conditional use permit from the City Council.

“They will have to execute a lease and perform tenant improvements and pull a building permit,” Mr. Nachbar said.

Calm Before the Calm – or Storm?

Off stage, a couple Council members have been wringing their mental hands over the towering, complicated and sometimes esoteric tasks confronting the city manager.

“I don’t think he has nearly enough staff to cover all of the changes,” one Councilperson said. “For budgetary reasons, John cannot hire as freely as he might need, which means hiring outside consultants. I am glad I don’t have his headaches.”

However, the worriers may have overlooked who they are dealing with – a cement-solid Midwesterner.

Mr. Nachbar only rattles when he espies a dinosaur.

“We will be prepared,” and not one Culver City drone spotted a doubter.

(To be continued)