Pocomoke City zoning board hearing on cannabis dispensary postponed after applicant opts to wait for full board

The Pocomoke City Board of Zoning Appeals postponed a public hearing on a conditional-use request for a cannabis dispensary on June 3, 2026, after the applicant elected to wait for a full three-member board rather than proceed before the shortened panel, city staff said.

City staff told the attendees that although a quorum was present, the board’s rules require all three members to vote in favor of a conditional-use petition for it to proceed. "We do have a quorum, but the rules say that all three would have to vote in favor of your petition in order to proceed," a staff member said during the meeting.

The hearing concerned properties on southbound Route 13 (Ocean Highway) in Pocomoke City’s B2 business district, in District 1 near 1621 Ocean Highway; parcel and account identifiers read aloud at the meeting included tax map 0092 grid 0002 parcel 0199 and parcel 0200 (account identifiers 009796 and 010921). City staff asked anyone wishing to be heard to state their name and address as part of the public-hearing procedure.

An applicant representative, noting that clients had traveled to attend, asked whether the applicants could return if they did not secure all three votes today. Staff replied that proceeding now would waive the opportunity to return and that the matter would need to be re-advertised if postponed: "If you'd rather proceed in front of a full board, now is your opportunity to make that decision," the staff member said. When the applicant representative replied, "Yeah, we'll wait for the full board," the chair and staff confirmed the item would be postponed and re-advertised.

Before taking up the public hearing the board moved to table the minutes from the last two months; a board member made the motion and another seconded it. Later, a board member moved to adjourn and the meeting was closed. The transcript does not record a roll-call vote or tallied results for either motion.

Next steps: the applicant and city staff will coordinate a new hearing date and a public notice; staff said the item must be advertised before the hearing can be rescheduled. No formal decision on the conditional-use authorization was made at the June 3 meeting.