Mason council amends zoning and adopts ordinance to prohibit marijuana dispensaries after hourlong public hearing

Mason City Council on March 10 adopted Ordinance 2025-11 as amended, prohibiting both adult-use and medical marijuana businesses within city limits after a public hearing that drew dozens of speakers and sustained council debate.

The amendment — adopted before the public hearing — changed Exhibit A of the zoning update so that adult-use cannabis operations would be treated in the same way the city currently treats medical marijuana: prohibited in all zoning districts. City staff told the council the ordinance, as amended, would “completely prohibit adult use cannabis and it will leave medical marijuana also prohibited.”

The ordinance arrived as part of a broader zoning code update that also addressed floodplain standards required by FEMA, administrative clarifications, parking and lighting rules, flag-lot restrictions in commercial districts, and new standards for drive-through menu signs. Council members and staff emphasized the marijuana language as the most contested change and the reason the public had turned out in force.

Public comment ran more than an hour. Voices opposing dispensaries urged the council to preserve Mason’s…