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Mendota planners recommend limiting retail dispensaries to main-street district as city races moratorium deadline
Summary
City Planner Jennifer Haskamp said the Planning Commission recommends allowing retail cannabis dispensaries only in the mixed-use main-street district as conditional uses; the city’s moratorium expires Dec. 31, 2024, and staff expect to present a draft ordinance after the commission's Oct. 23 meeting.
City Planner Jennifer Haskamp told the Mendota City Council on Oct. 10 that the Planning Commission had discussed a local cannabis ordinance and recommended restricting retail dispensaries to the mixed-use main-street district as a conditional use.
Haskamp said the city currently has a moratorium on cannabis businesses that expires Dec. 31, 2024, and that state rules cap the number of dispensaries in a county based on population (the Planning Commission cited one retail dispensary per 12,500 people for Dakota County). The planner told the council the city intends to adopt a local ordinance before the moratorium expires and that the commission will draft a formal ordinance at its Oct. 23 meeting.
Councilors and staff discussed unresolved issues including on-site consumption rules and business registration; Haskamp said the state’s Organizational Change Management (OCM) guidance remains incomplete and the city expects to amend its ordinance next spring after the state finalizes rules. Proposed local hours of operation mentioned in the discussion are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; the planner noted the state requires businesses to be closed between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m.
The planner emphasized that final zoning language, conditional-use standards and business-registration requirements will be written at the October planning meeting and returned to the council for approval with any needed amendments after state guidance is issued.
