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North Mankato adopts ordinance updating local cannabis sales rules
Summary
The North Mankato City Council on Jan. 21 adopted Ordinance No. 182 to update Chapter 113 (Sale of Cannabis), keeping 10 low-potency licenses and allowing two high-potency licenses with staff wording changes; the state issues high-potency licenses and is not currently issuing them.
The North Mankato City Council voted Jan. 21 to adopt Ordinance No. 182, updating Chapter 113 of the City Code to manage the sale, manufacturing and distribution of marijuana products. Council Member Oachs moved to adopt the ordinance; Council Member Steiner seconded the motion, which passed with Council Members Steiner, Oachs, Whitlock and Mayor Carlson voting aye.
City Attorney Kennedy told the council the ordinance would "update the City Code to manage the sale, manufacturing, and distribution of marijuana products." He said the draft would continue to allow the current 10 low-potency cannabis licenses and would allow two high-potency licenses. "State Statute requires the City to have at least one high-potency license," Kennedy said, and he clarified that the State issues high-potency licenses rather than the city. He added the State currently is not ready to issue those licenses.
Staff proposed three specific wording changes to Subdivision 3 to clarify local regulation: remove the word "retail" from Subdivisions 3.1c and 3.1d and add the word "not" to Subdivision 3.1d. The council adopted the ordinance with those requested changes.
Mayor Carlson stated he "would not be in favor of increasing the number of allowed licenses," but the ordinance as adopted permits two high-potency licenses in addition to existing low-potency authorizations. The adoption was a formal ordinance vote; no public comments were recorded during the hearing on this item.
Council documents and the ordinance language indicate that, although the city sets local registration rules and limits, the State controls issuance of high-potency licenses. City staff noted that because the State is not yet issuing high-potency licenses, no immediate high-potency registrations will be processed by the City until the State begins issuing licenses.
The council moved on to other agenda items; the ordinance's adoption concludes the city's local code change process but leaves the timing of any high-potency license applications dependent on state action.
