Planning staff to send draft cannabis zoning to county and hold public hearing Jan. 27; commission recommends special‑use limits

The Development and Planning Committee voted on Jan. 6 to call a public hearing for Jan. 27 on draft cannabis dispensary zoning and to transmit the draft ordinance to the county planning department for review, planning staff said.

Planning staff and the planning commission recommended concentrating cannabis retail and on‑site consumption uses in industrial and select commercial districts and treating some uses as allowable only by special use permit. Planning Commission member Birach told the committee that the commission’s main change to the city’s draft was to permit on‑site consumption only through the special use permitting process so the planning board can review potential nuisance, traffic and other neighborhood impacts.

Mr. Conley of the planning department explained that the proposal would limit cannabis establishments to M‑1 and M‑2 industrial districts and to C‑4 and C‑5 commercial districts as permitted uses; C‑2 and C‑3 commercial districts would be subject to special use permits. The draft also contains a 500‑foot buffer from schools and churches, and planning staff said state rules will also influence local siting (including minimum spacing between cannabis establishments under state rules).

Planning staff reminded the committee that a moratorium on new approvals remains in effect through Feb. 11; establishments that applied before the moratorium or were already in process would be grandfathered. Officials said one pending application — for a location on Eastern Parkway — remained in the queue and would be treated under the prior process.

Members also discussed microbusinesses that cultivate product for retail sale: a microbusiness’s cultivation operations must be within a 25‑mile radius of its retail site per state rules, planning staff said; planning staff proposed that cultivation components may require additional local special permits because cultivation has distinct site and square‑footage requirements. The committee approved both motions — to call the public hearing and to transmit the draft to county planning — by voice vote.