2024.08.05 CC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Meeting Minutes for August 5, 2024 Page 7 of 8 Dean Anderson, 7503 177th Street, said he had been looking for a place to grow cannabis on their 20 acres. He said he ran shops, was a former Minneapolis cop, and cannabis has helped him. He said he was looking forward to growing with this industry. He talked about the lack of support of small businesses, and he questioned how the Council was seeing zoning, pointing out that cities can elect to host their own dispensaries and said it may be a good way for Hugo to generate income. He said he was part of the social equity group, had approval, and needed to submit their plans by August 12. He said he takes it seriously, wants to put a plan out there, and that’s why they bought the property. Petryk talked about the confusion with the OMC and wondered if he was finding any help. Dean said he wanted to see success with the program, and the OMC had ramped up their whole team. He said they attended several of their meetings. He talked about the injustice of the social equity program because it was opened up nationwide so outsiders can come to Minnesota instead of giving preference to those living here. A woman who accompanied Dean said they bought the land in speculation they would get a license, and it would be zoned correctly. She said it’s all about education, and they wanted to help guide and be part of the conversation. She said Solace Farms was their LLC. Juba explained the process for a zoning text amendment. Proposed amendments would be shared with the Planning Commission and Council, and there would be another chance to comment at the public hearing on the text amendment. It was unclear if it was going to be considered an agricultural product. There was no other comments, and Weidt closed the public hearing. Weidt commented that the City was trying to figure out how it all fits in, and staff had the same questions as them. Miron clarified that the purpose of the ordinance was to prevent applications from being submitted until after the City determines the process. Part of the approval was direction to staff to start implementing the steps on the text amendments. Miron made motion, Petryk seconded, to approve ORDINANCE 2024-532 AN INTERIM ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE SALE, TESTING, MANUFACTURING, AND DISTRIBUTION OF CANNABINOID PRODUCTS and authorize staff to work on text amendments regulating time, place, and manner of operations of cannabis businesses. Roll call vote: Ayes-Klein, Miron, Petryk, Strub, Weidt Nays-None Motion carried.