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Council flags inconsistencies in draft cannabis ordinance; asks attorney for cleanup before hearing
Summary
Councilors reviewed a state-model cannabis ordinance draft, raised concerns about mixing criminal and civil penalties, inconsistent language on application vs. registration fees, and placeholder sections. They directed staff and the attorney to resolve statutory alignments and fee language before any public hearing.
Councilors reviewed a draft cannabis ordinance that staff circulated as an unrefined adaptation of the state model and identified multiple drafting and policy issues that need resolution before any public hearing.
Members repeatedly noted inconsistent fee language: the draft at times says the city “shall not charge an application fee” while later provisions reference a registration fee and nonrefundable “application fee” language. Council members observed the state model limits certain fees and that the draft’s renewal-fee language appears reversed from typical local practice. Council asked staff and the city attorney to reconcile the differences and to set fee amounts in the local fee schedule rather than leaving conflicting text in the ordinance.
Councilors also raised enforcement and framing issues after noting the draft mixes criminal penalties (misdemeanor language) and civil penalties (financial fines for license violations). One council member asked for clarity about when criminal enforcement would apply and whether overlapping civil fines were appropriate; the attorney present (or counsel drafting the ordinance) indicated the model ordinance contained those distinctions but the city should confirm intended local enforcement mechanisms.
Other items the council flagged included placeholder text and formatting errors (for example, missing department names and sections that read like editorial notes), and uncertainty about whether temporary cannabis-event registrations must be allowed or what local limits should apply. Members directed the attorney to tidy the draft, correct statutory references and placeholders, and return with a clean, locally tailored version for further council review before scheduling any public hearing or adoption vote.
Next steps: staff and the city attorney will revise the draft to: (1) unify fee language and clearly map fees to the fee schedule, (2) clarify civil vs. criminal enforcement paths, (3) remove editorial placeholders and confirm whether temporary event registrations are permitted, and (4) provide a final draft for council review at a subsequent meeting before any public notice or hearing.
