Council committee backs calling out moratorium request to reinstate ordinance 164-2023; adds vape shops and data centers to pause

Planning and Annexation Committee members on Monday debated a request to reinstate Ordinance 164-2023, a moratorium that previously covered used car lots, mini-warehouses, limited indoor storage, dollar stores and tobacco shops. Councilor Dallas Moore asked the city to reinstate the moratorium but to strike language that would have continued to bar growing and dispensing marijuana.

Committee Chair Emily Beck read a letter from Moore asking that the marijuana provisions be removed to allow cultivation and retail operations under the updated development code. Members said the earlier moratorium had expired when the city adopted a new development code and clarified that reinstituting the moratorium would re-create the pause on the listed uses under the current code.

Several members urged caution. Councilors asked staff whether a separate ordinance already prohibits marijuana operations and whether moratoriums must include a sunset date; the law director advised staff could research prior ordinances and the committee could rescind any conflicting rule if necessary. The mayor and other members said nearby municipalities had recently adopted similar pauses for planning reasons.

As discussion shifted, the committee considered several amendments requested by staff and the planning director. Council voted to add vape shops and data centers to the list of uses subject to the moratorium — a change councilors said would buy time for staff to craft zoning parameters for those uses. The motion to add vape shops and data centers passed on a voice vote and the committee then voted to call the item out of committee and send it to the full council for first reading and further drafting.

No ordinance was adopted at the meeting; the committee action moves the draft to the council agenda so staff can prepare formal legislation and clarify whether other existing ordinances must be rescinded or amended.

What happens next: The full council will receive the reinstatement request with the committee’s amendment (adding vape shops and data centers). Staff will be asked to locate any prior ordinances governing marijuana uses and to draft a moratorium with an appropriate time limit and zoning parameters for council consideration.