Last year, Paul Pedreira decided to walk away from a career as assistant director for the NBC television series Grimm and sink his savings into Oregon’s growing recreational cannabis industry.

He planned to open a dispensary in St. Johns. But he soon found himself tangled in a bizarre thicket of city regulation.

Portland nixed the location of his store in 2015, even though the state had approved it. When Pedreira found another commercial building, the Office of Neighborhood Involvement required him to undergo an extensive permitting process to change its use to allow marijuana inside. He had to spend $3,600 for an architect to draw floor plans, even though the only major changes to the storefront were a  paint job, some new light fixtures and security cameras, he says.

Portland City Hall Is Poised to Admit It Wrapped Cannabis Businesses in Too Much Red Tape