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Public gets the opportunity to weigh in on proposed ordinances
A public hearing is slated for Tuesday as Ely city officials consider regulations that could limit cannabis- specific businesses as well as the sale of cannabis products in the city limit.
The hearing is slated for Tuesday, Dec. 3, starting at 4:30 p.m. at City Hall.
An article in last week’s edition mistakenly identified the date as Dec. 4.
On Tuesday, council members will give citizens the chance to offer input before further action is taken.
Earlier this month, the council got a look at draft ordinances and made some adjustments after discussion revealed conflicting sentiments at the table.
While current sales of “lower potency” products such as edibles and cannabis- infused drinks would largely continue as is, the ordinance establishes a new category for “cannabis retail businesses,” and establishes buffer zones that prohibit them within 500-to-1,000 feet of various entities including schools, day cares, residential treatment facilities, parks and other cannabis businesses.
Council member Adam Bisbee pushed back during discussion and noted that, according to his research, they would essentially limit cannabis businesses on Sheridan Street from Central Avenue to First Avenue West, and from 10th Avenue East to 13th Avenue East.
Mayor Heidi Omerza, however, endorsed the buffer zones and only supported a change that increased the number of allowable cannabis- specific businesses from one to five as long as the buffer zones, or setbacks, remained.
If the restrictions as proposed, including the buffer zones, were applied to alcohol sales, numerous downtown bars and restaurants would no longer be able to sell alcohol.
Council action is coming in the wake of state legislative action that legalizes recreational marijuana.
In July, the city enacted a temporary moratorium on the establishment of new commercial operations related to the sale, distribution and manufacturing of cannabis and THC products, but the city is required to have its own regulations in place by the end of the year.
Two ordinances are under consideration, one regulating cannabis businesses and the other related to the zoning of cannabis businesses.
The first ordinance further defines cannabis-related products and defines low potency products including those intended to be eaten or consumed, is not a drug, does not contain cannabinoid derived from plants or flowers, and is the type of product approved for sale by the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management.
These products are those typically found at convenience stores or bars.
The ordinance sets up licensing provisions for these businesses and allows for a maximum of 10 of these businesses in the city limits.
It includes prohibitions typical to the sale of other products such as cigarettes or alcohol including a ban on self-service machines and a minimum age (21) requirement for purchase.
As currently proposed, sale of those products and operation of those businesses would not be subject to the proposed buffer zones.
More stringent regulations, however, are proposed for retail cannabis businesses, as well as any business that proposes to manufacture, test or cultivate cannabis.
A first draft limited retail operations to just one, but council member Al Forsman said he preferred that the marketplace rather than the city determine the number of retailers, and he successfully pushed to raise the maximum to five.
More contentious were the buffer zones that establish the prohibition of any cannabis business that were to set up shop within 1,000 feet of a school, or within 500 feet of a day care, residential treatment facility, playgrounds, athletic fields or other cannabis businesses.
