To the surprise of no one who has been tracking Culver City’s seven-month path to shaping laws for newly legalized marijuana, the City Council voted 4-1 last evening to license “up to three” retail cannabis dispensaries next year.

Standing firmly and alone throughout the two-hour discussion, Goran Eriksson cast the lone resistance vote. He said his colleagues were running much too fast to make laws. The Council needed to obtain more information, he asserted. He wanted to ascertain that every homeowner would be roundly aware of consequences of this new-fangled enterprise.

Mr. Eriksson, however, started and finished standing by himself.

Potential cannabis business  investors masked their feelings at the end. They seemed unsure whether to be glad they got something or to express disappointment at gaining a smaller number than the four to six outlets they had hoped for.

The outcome, however, never was in doubt. But the deciding vote was preceded by a dash of drama.

Going into the meeting, the Council count was split. Two members were for retail dispensaries (Mayor Jeff Cooper and Meghan Sahli-Wells), two were against (Mr. Eriksson and Jim Clarke). Vice Mayor Thomas Small was holding out for more information.

Mr. Small, the father of elementary school twins, wanted to be assured that if investors sought a residential neighborhood property, every household – no exceptions – would be actively not just technically aware of what was happening.

Then came a wrestling match in the weeds.

Hoping to win Mr. Small’s hand, and confident they would, the Council’s two delegates to the Marijuana Task Force, Mr. Cooper and  Ms. Sahli-Wells, repeatedly – and repeatedly —  sought to almost but not quite guarantee Mr. Small that every neighborhood household would be thoroughly apprised of potential developments regarding an incoming cannabis store.

Ironically, on the dais, it happens that Ms. Sahli-Wells and Mr. Cooper flank Mr. Small’s chair. There was nowhere to hide.

Ms. Sahli-Wells and the mayor congratulated themselves on their uncommonly comprehensive and aggressive work on the Task Force in carving a reasonable highway through Culver City for when sale and consumption of marijuana becomes legal after Jan. 1.

They guaranteed that investors and businesspersons would be more “rigorously” vetted than any incoming entrepreneur in the 100-year history of Culver City.