Mentor-on-the-Lake council extends cannabis moratorium, trims proposed license fees

Mentor-on-the-Lake City Council on Monday moved to keep in place a temporary moratorium on cannabis dispensary permits while it develops local zoning and licensing rules, and it removed a proposed $10,000 marijuana business license fee from a draft licensing ordinance after guidance from the law director.

Council referred Ordinance 2025-O-01, which would create local rules to regulate cannabis dispensaries, to the Planning and Zoning Commission for public review and set a public hearing for March 11. Because the moratorium on new dispensaries is set to expire before the hearing notice period would end, council directed staff to draft legislation extending the moratorium by 60 days so the required 30-day public-notice period would be satisfied.

The move postpones any new dispensary applications while the city completes its process to consider local limits and zoning for cannabis retail. Councilmember discussion emphasized completing the public process rather than creating open-ended extensions. One councilmember said extending the moratorium would allow the city’s rulemaking process to “go through its paces,” noting state licensing rules can make it difficult to reverse approvals after a business establishes operations.

Council also took action on Ordinance 2025-O-02, which would create Chapter 882 (Cannabis) of the city codified ordinances to license and regulate cannabis businesses. Law Director Mister Dynes told council that the state code’s language is fragmented and contains ambiguities; he recommended removing any special, large license fee that would apply only to cannabis operators because that differential treatment could expose the city to legal challenge under state law. “My fear on that is that anything contrary to that except for all businesses puts us at risk,” Dynes said, urging caution until the matter is settled in case law.

Following that advice, council voted to strike the section establishing a $10,000 marijuana dispensary application and renewal fee, leaving routine business registration and replacement-license fees in place. The motion to strike the license-fee section was made by Mister Pittner and seconded by Miss Wong and carried on a roll call vote.

Council members and staff repeatedly noted that a moratorium extension would be time-limited and intended only to allow completion of the public hearing and Planning & Zoning review. The council scheduled a public hearing on the dispensary ordinance for March 11 and said the Planning & Zoning Commission will review the ordinance in advance.

Council did not adopt final, comprehensive cannabis licensing rules at the meeting; rather, members referred the main ordinance to the Planning & Zoning Commission, directed a staff-drafted extension of the moratorium, and removed the proposed large license fee from the draft ordinance to reduce legal risk.

Looking ahead, the ordinance will return to council after Planning & Zoning holds hearings and reports back. The city did not specify a final timetable for adoption beyond the scheduled March public hearing.