12-04-2024 Workshop Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Fischer and Members of City Council FROM: Ben Harrington, AICP, Community Development Director DATE: December 4, 2024 RE: Planning Case 1435 – Cannabis Ordinances – Ordinances #902, 903, 904, 905. ACTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED Review of Ordinances 902, 903, 904, 905 which creates new Chapter 827 – Cannabis, a regulatory ordinance and amends Chapters 905, 906, and 914 of the City of Little Canada Zoning Code (Attachments 1, 2, 3, and 4). BACKGROUND Staff are presenting the proposed zoning and regulatory standards for cannabis businesses. The City must have these regulations in place before January 1st of 2025. The Office of Cannabis Management was slated to have their lottery of Social Equity Opportunity applicants on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. The lottery would have awarded the first set of pre- approvals for cannabis businesses in the State of Minnesota. Applicants who were disqualified prior to the lottery brought a lawsuit and a Ramsey County judge ordered OCM to delay the lottery. There is no new timeline for the lottery or issuance of State licenses at the time of writing this memo. Local Regulations Allowed The State of Minnesota and the new Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) have restricted municipalities in how they can regulate cannabis. The following are the parameters set by the State that influenced the creation of the ordinance. 1. Cities must allow one retail adult-use cannabis dispensary per 12,500 residents. The rule has been interpreted to mean that a city with 12,501 would have to allow two dispensaries. 2. Cities are not permitted to cap non-retail cannabis businesses. 3. Cities may only charge a $500 registration fee and $1,000 renewal fee. 4. Cities are permitted to require a distance of 1,000 feet from schools and cannabis businesses as well as up to 500 feet from daycares, residential treatment facilities, or an attraction within a public park regularly used by minors. 5. OCM provided virtually no guidance on regulatory/welfare measurements that cities could adopt to prevent odor or other nuisances. The Planning Commission reviewed and recommended adoption of the proposed zoning ordinances. Although technically outside the purview of the Planning Commission as it is not a zoning ordinance, Staff brought a draft of Chapter 827 for their review to consider all cannabis regulations together. The Planning Commission recommended two minor changes to the registration timeline and the scoring process which have been added to the ordinance before you.