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Residents and commissioners warn hemp restrictions could hurt local retailers
Summary
Speakers raised concerns that city buffers and restrictive hours could prevent local liquor and convenience stores from selling hemp-derived products and urged aligning hemp rules with state allowances.
Commissioners and at least one resident flagged potential competitive impacts if the city applies the proposed buffers and hours to lower-potency hemp products. The chair noted that, under the draft map and setback rules, existing sellers could be excluded: "the current liquor store would not be able to sell any of those because of the park regulations that we have and the setbacks."
A resident urged the city not to impose local hours on hemp products, saying it would disadvantage local retailers compared with neighboring towns and chain locations: "I don't think we should really have any hours restriction on the, hemp products for the business." Staff responded that cities may choose to be more restrictive than the state but that many communities either treat lower-potency hemp the same as cannabis or are less restrictive for hemp to avoid disadvantaging existing businesses. The commission asked staff to consider whether to split low-dose hemp from higher-dose cannabis in the draft regulations.
