City staff sets Thursday drawing for two retail cannabis registrations; about 73 applicants per zone

City staff told the East Grand Forks City Council on Aug. 19 that the drawing to select local retail cannabis registrants will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. in council chambers and will determine one primary registration and one alternate for each of two retail zones — downtown and highway commercial.

"Applicants, we have about 73 or 74 applicants for each of the 2 zones, downtown and Highway Commercial," said Mister Huttner, a city staff member explaining the process. He said the city had originally posted a 10 a.m. start but rescheduled the drawing to 2 p.m. and encouraged interested members of the public to attend.

Huttner emphasized that a successful drawing provides only preliminary local approval: "Once they are drawn in our registration, it does not mean that they are ready to open a store tomorrow ... it’s still a preliminary approval," he said, noting further state and local steps would be required for licensees to operate.

City staff also said the drawing will produce an alternate for each zone so the city would not need to repeat a drawing if a selected primary cannot meet state or local requirements. The city clarified that the retail registrations being drawn are specific to retail operations (one downtown, one highway commercial); cultivation or industrial licensing remains open for anyone to apply outside of this retail drawing.

The drawing is open to be observed in council chambers and follows the city’s registration process for limited retail slots; additional state licensing and compliance steps remain before any selected applicant may open.

Next step: the city will conduct the public drawing Thursday at 2 p.m. in the council chambers.