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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes <br />May 21, 2024 <br />Page 6 <br />1 licensing of cannabis businesses, including retailers, manufacturers, transporters, and <br />2 warehousing. The law includes all types of cannabis product, including hemp-THC products <br />3 and medical cannabis. <br />4 <br />5 The law provides that the City may not prohibit the business uses for cannabis products due <br />6 merely because of the nature of the product. Therefore, where the City allows manufacturing, <br />7 a business that manufactures a cannabis product licensed by the State must be accommodated. <br />8 There can be no additional limits for these businesses, such as number of licensees, proximity <br />9 to other uses, etc. <br />10 <br />11 Included in the types of licensed businesses are retailers, however, retailing can be limited by <br />12 the City under specific circumstances. There are six categories of retail business that are <br />13 called out for these limitations: Cannabis “Mezzo-businesses”, Cannabis “Micro-businesses”, <br />14 Cannabis Retailers, Medical Cannabis Retailers, Medical Cannabis Combination Business, <br />15 and Low-Potency Edible Hemp Retailer. <br />16 <br />17 Cannabis “Mezzo-“ and “Micro-“ businesses are essentially processor facilities that may, if <br />18 licensed and appropriate under local zoning, qualify for a retail sales license as a component <br />19 of their industrial enterprise. The difference relates to licensed processing space – up to 5,000 <br />20 square feet for “Micro-business”, and from 5,001 to 15,000 square feet for “Mezzo-business”. <br />21 Cannabis retailers, by contrast, are specifically retail-oriented, in which no industrial activity <br />22 (manufacturing, processing, etc.,) occurs. Medical cannabis retailing or combination <br />23 businesses are those that may retail consumer products, but are also licensed to dispense <br />24 medical cannabis treatments. Low potency Hemp retailers are those that are currently eligible <br />25 to sell such products under the prior 2022 legislation. In St. Anthony, those potential locations <br />26 are limited to only those also with a current tobacco sales license. <br />27 <br />28 Local Limitations - The legislation permits the City to limit cannabis sales, with specific <br />29 limitations on that authority. Essentially, those limitations are as follows: <br />30 <br />31 a. The State OCM will assume authority for licensing all cannabis and hemp-related <br />32 businesses. <br />33 b. As a part of the State’s licensing process, the OCM will contact the local government <br />34 to know if the City will “register” the business location, which is an information <br />35 process, not a licensing authority. Zoning compliance will be an aspect of local <br />36 “registration”. <br />37 c. A City may not enact any ordinance that has the effect of prohibiting cannabis <br />38 businesses. <br />39 d. A City must provide for an allowance of at least one cannabis-retail facility, whether <br />40 that is a “Micro-“ or “Mezzo-“ business, a cannabis retailer. This allowance increases <br />41 by one additional business for each 12,500 residents. May 21, 2024 Page 3 <br />42 e. St. Anthony’s current population of under 10,000 requires the allowance of at least one <br />43 licensed retailer. The City may by ordinance limit the number of licensees to its <br />44 minimum registration of one retail location, although the City is not required to do so.