In our Spotlight on Business Report.

For the second time in as many months, Paterson City Council is blocking an attempt by the mayor's office to increase the number of stores selling legal weed.

Members voted down a proposal that would have bumped cannabis retail licenses in the city from 3 to 10 and ease other regulations.

As Ted Goldberg reports, the decision could be stifling the very economic growth Paterson needs.

John De Los Santos quit his job as an EMT two years ago to bring recreational cannabis to Paterson.

It's a passion over all and there's a lot of actual medical benefits that I wholeheartedly believing that cannabis can provide for the community.

The Paterson native got conditional state approval last year, but he's run into roadblocks on the local level.

What I had received was my application was lost.

De la Santos says he was Paterson's first applicant for recreational cannabis after the Silk City approved recreational sales last September.

In that time, three other companies in Paterson have gotten licenses.

It's just disheartening that I'm a resident of this town, but yet other interests have been chosen over me.

Paterson only had three recreational licenses to hand out.

This limbo has already cost De Los Santos one location, and he could lose another if the Paterson City Council doesn't issue him a license by October 21st.

This is my hometown.

Being that 2% of all my revenue is going to go to the town.

I would like it to go to the town where I live so I can help out the people that are around.

That's why we're trying to raise the number of licenses to ten so that we can meet the need or at least accommodate the demand that exists.

Mayor Andre Sayegh has clashed with City Council about how many licenses the city should allow.

We are aiming for ten because the demand is very high.

Pun intended.

Paterson City Council didn't go for that plan, voting it down last week during a six hour meeting that got a little testy.

Sayegh says Paterson's lone dispensary rise has proven that the city can handle cannabis without sacrificing quality of life.

We were able to generate tax revenue.

Also, they created job opportunities for Paterson.

And if you're coming from a social justice perspective, there are people that have been able to get their lives back together as a result.

We don't have no problem with them.

They have good security and they have a good way to manage their business.

Councilman Luis Velez was one of six council members to vote down the plan.

While he's fine with Rise, he believes too many dispensaries could actively harm Paterson.

I don't look at the financial part, only.

I look in the quality of life.

If students walking by a cannabis place or you know who's going to be looking into they not selling to minors.

Velez isn't alone with his concerns.

Paterson City Council voted six two to reject a plan that included seven more licenses to sell recreational cannabis.

The council widely understood the negative impact, and majority of us voted against it.

Maritza Davila was one of the two to support the additional licenses.

This isn't any different than liquor stores.

I don't I don't consume it.

But guess what?

That's the individual Maritza.

If your vision is to see a Paterson that's filled with liquor stores and dispensaries, then vote for this.

I see this as something that is going to benefit the city in terms of our budget, in terms of bringing jobs to the city.

While selling cannabis might be legal in Paterson, getting a license to sell has become a tall task, even for people raised in Paterson who want to keep their business in the community.

In Paterson, I'm Ted Goldberg.

NJ Spotlight News.