01-08-2025 Council 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: January 8, 2025 RE: Planning Case 1435 – Cannabis Ordinances – Ordinances #902, 903, 904, 905. ACTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED Approve/Approve with Amendments/Deny Ordinances #902, 903, 904, 905 which create 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 Ordinances #902, 903, 904, & 905 create the zoning and regulatory standards for cannabis businesses in Little Canada. The City anticipated needing these regulations in place before January 1st of 2025 when the Office of Cannabis Management initially indicated that licenses would be issued. According to an announcement on December 11th, the Office of Cannabis Management is now expecting to hold a lottery for State licenses in mid-2025. 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 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. 4. OCM provided little 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 City Council reviewed the ordinances at their December 4th, 2024, Workshop and requested minor modifications. The City Council held a public hearing on the proposed ordinances at their December 18th, 2024, meeting where the Council requested that the proposed buffering requirements align with the City’s regulations on tobacco and alcohol. As such, buffers from residential treatment facilities and daycares have been removed from the proposed ordinances.