County attorney drafting marijuana zoning ordinance; committee holds item pending draft

Butte‑Silver Bow County Attorney Matt Enroof told the Judiciary Committee on June 11 that his office has begun drafting an ordinance to regulate the sale and distribution of medical and recreational marijuana within the county and to tighten placement rules near schools and churches.

Enroof said state law provides a framework but also permits counties to impose stricter rules. He told the committee that he and county zoning staff ("Miss Crane") "are working together on drafting an ordinance, that is gonna substantially ... increase the protective boundaries for schools and things like that" and that the draft will also propose a cap on the total number of shops, with existing shops to be grandfathered in.

Commissioner Dan Callahan asked whether the county could prevent current shops from being sold so the county could reach a desired cap; Enroof advised that licensing is a state function but noted an upcoming state action. He said, "starting, if I am not mistaken, June 30, no more new licenses will be issued," and added that, under current rules, some licenses (owned by LLCs) may be transferable while individually owned licenses may not. Enroof said the county's potential legal approach would be to limit locally issued business licenses and to draft language that would require a shop that is sold to relocate if it falls inside a prohibited distance from a school under the proposed local rules.

The committee voted to hold the request (communication 2025‑310) in abeyance pending the completion and presentation of the draft ordinance. The motion to hold passed 5‑0.

Enroof said staff will return with proposed language; committee members did not vote on specific buffer distances or the proposed cap number during the June 11 meeting.