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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes May 21, 2024 Page 5 1 Commissioner Rude stated he would be in favor. Commissioner Morita and Chair Socha 2 agreed. 3 4 There were no members of the public present to comment at the meeting. 5 6 Chair Socha closed the public hearing at 8:02 p.m. 7 8 Motion by Commissioner Morita, seconded by Commissioner Rude, to recommend the City 9 Council approve the modifications to the Beekeeping Ordinance as provided. 10 11 Motion carried 5-0. 12 B.13 Cannabis – Zoning Ordinance Amendments. 14 15 Chair Socha opened the public hearing at 8:02 p.m. 16 17 Mr. Grittman reviewed the State of Minnesota has passed legislation during the 2023 18 legislative session legalizing various aspects of cannabis use, sales, agriculture, and 19 manufacturing. This legislation follows 2022 legalization of certain low-potency hemp-based 20 THC products. The City of St. Anthony subsequently adopted regulations for hemp-THC 21 products. 22 23 In August of 2023, the City adopted a moratorium on cannabis-related businesses (as 24 authorized by the legislation), in anticipation of the State’s establishment of agency and rule- 25 making activities. The State has created the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) to carry 26 out the requirements of the legislation, with an originally-anticipated start date of January, 27 2025. While that date may shift some, the City is seeking to update its zoning regulations to 28 comply with the local land use impacts of the legislation. Included with this memo is a draft 29 ordinance establishing basic zoning regulations in this regard, based on additional research 30 and the Commission’s discussion at its April, 2024 meeting. 31 32 One aspect of the City’s regulation to note is personal cannabis use, which was legalized by 33 the 2023 legislation, and took effect in August of last year. As a part of that process, the City 34 separately established a prohibition on smoking in public places, which is applicable to any 35 smoking or product. That aspect of the City’s regulation is not further addressed by the 36 materials for this review. 37 38 The cannabis topic is complex and has many facets that impact local government. For the 39 purposes of this review, these materials limited to impacts on land use regulation and zoning. 40 For most of this, the requirements will be addressing business regulation – business type, May 41 21, 2024 Page 2 location, and related concerns. Municipal sales, law enforcement, and other 42 administrative or General Code aspects of the law are left to separate consideration by City 43 Council. 44 45 Land Use Aspects of Cannabis Legalization - The legislation creates several categories of 46 licensing for Cannabis business activity. The State OCM will assume all requirements for 47