Plain City council signals support to extend moratorium and seeks ban on adult‑use cannabis businesses

Plain City council on Jan. 27 signaled support for extending a yearlong moratorium on adult‑use cannabis activities and asked staff to draft an ordinance that would prohibit adult‑use cannabis businesses in the village.

Mayor Jody Carney said she wants Plain City to "be a leader amongst surrounding communities" and favored prohibiting dispensaries to maintain what she described as a family‑friendly community and to support local policing priorities. Councilmember T. Harriman told colleagues he, too, supports a prohibition and cited examples from neighboring municipalities and limits on likely tax revenue under the Ohio Revised Code as reasons not to permit dispensaries in Plain City. Police Chief Dale McKee said he agreed with Harriman's remarks.

Administrator Haley Lupton told council staff had drafted legislation to extend the existing moratorium for another 12 months and recommended the extension to allow time to draft any prohibition language. At staff's recommendation, council members expressed support for enacting the extension and directed staff to prepare prohibition legislation for future consideration. The draft extension appeared as Ordinance 03‑2025 on the meeting's agenda as a first reading.

Council members emphasized that the moratorium extension and any future prohibition would be subject to the formal ordinance process. No final ordinance adopting a prohibition was passed at the Jan. 27 meeting; council approved only the motion to begin a first reading of the moratorium extension and asked staff to return with draft prohibition language for subsequent readings and formal action.

Next steps: staff will prepare ordinance language extending the moratorium and parallel prohibition language for council consideration at future meetings; the record shows council direction but does not record a final ban vote on Jan. 27.