Miami planning board recommends zoning changes to allow medical marijuana dispensaries with distance and design limits

The Miami Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board on a 7–1 vote recommended that the City Commission adopt an ordinance to allow medical marijuana treatment center dispensing facilities and align rules for dispensaries and pharmacies under the Miami 21 zoning code.

Jake Kern, assistant director in the Office of Zoning, told the board the amendment "is to introduce new definitions relating to the use of medical marijuana dispensaries and pharmacies, as well as supplemental regulations regarding their location and proximity to certain other zones or other existing uses." Kern said the proposal adds definitions to Article 1 and supplemental regulations in Article 6 and a reservation system in Article 7 of Miami 21.

The ordinance text presented to the board would: expand the definition of general commercial to include medical marijuana treatment center dispensing facilities and pharmacies; add distance separations and design regulations; and create a reservation letter process the Office of Zoning would issue for up to six months (extendable by one year with proof of active permits, entitlements or leases). Kern said legally established pharmacies or dispensaries already in the city would be made conforming.

Ian Butreykov, representing Acre Minimal Office and consulting on the item, described the ordinance as the result of over a year of work with commissioners and staff and said the draft is intended to conform the city's code to state law while limiting locations in most districts. "If you were to look at a map of those distance separations, they completely black out. There would be no location where a dispensary can go in Districts 1, 3 or 4," he said. Butreykov also described an exemption for pharmacies that are accessory uses inside convenience stores or grocery stores, saying typical Walgreens or CVS locations would be treated as ancillary and exempt from some distance requirements.

Board members discussed two amendments presented for inclusion in the motion: (1) the definition of "pharmacy" will explicitly exclude the sale of cannabis so that pharmacies and medical marijuana treatment center dispensing facilities are distinct; and (2) a change affecting NRD1 (an inner neighborhood district) to remove a 750-foot separation between dispensaries in that district and instead use the standard 500-foot metric except in NCD3, where the separation to schools and between facilities is set at 750 feet.

A board member asked whether the pharmacy exemption would allow a CVS or Walgreens to open across the street from a school; staff and the consultant clarified that the exemption applies to pharmacies ancillary to a larger convenience or grocery store, and that dispensaries must be stand-alone under state law and so could not use that accessory-use exemption.

The board approved the recommendation, with Vice Chair Andres Lopez casting the lone "no" vote; the motion was announced as "approved by a vote of 7 to 1." The board asked that the two clarifying amendments described above be included in its recommendation to the City Commission.

The Office of Zoning and the consultant described the reservation process and enforcement approach in detail, and staff said they would provide the City Commission with the draft amendment language and supporting maps identifying where facilities could locate under the proposed distances.

Votes at a glance - Recommendation for ordinance to amend Miami 21 to permit medical marijuana treatment center dispensing facilities and pharmacies (with amendments): Approved 7–1 (No: Vice Chair Andres Lopez).