Olmsted County approves changes to cannabis ordinance, sets lottery and timelines

The Olmsted County Board of Commissioners voted to approve revisions to Chapter 2,150 of the county code of ordinances that regulate the use, display and sale of cannabis and cannabis-derived products in the county.

County staff summarized edits introduced at a recent special session and highlighted several procedural items: a lottery to allocate registrations (to be held at a public meeting with two weeks’ notice); application review timelines; an administrative appeals process; and categories for registrations. Staff said applications will be separated into microbusinesses with retail endorsements, meso businesses with retail endorsements, and cannabis retailers. The proposed initial distribution reflected staff’s state-level application analysis: eight registrations for microbusinesses, four for cannabis retailers and two for meso businesses. If insufficient applications appear in a category, the county will pool entries and conduct a joint lottery.

Staff said application review will take up to 20 business days and applicants will have 10 business days to correct deficiencies; applications not corrected within that period will be denied. Alternates selected by lottery will remain valid for 18 months. The county will give businesses six months to begin operations after receiving a registration; a 90-day extension can be granted for cause. Staff also reported that capitalization tables submitted to the state will be used to collect ownership and interest information to avoid duplicative requests.

A motion to approve the ordinance changes was moved, seconded and carried by voice vote; no roll-call tally was provided in the record.

Staff also noted the county’s chapter 4,000 administrative and appeals ordinance will apply to cannabis matters for appeals and administrative processes.

The ordinance delegates final fee setting (lottery fee) to future resolution after county staff assess internal costs.