MANSFIELD – Recreational cannabis dispensaries could soon be state licensed and approved in the City of Mansfield without the need for new, specific local zoning regulations or requirements.
Mayor Jodie Perry said after a special meeting of the city’s Planning Commission Friday morning that recreational licenses could be issued by the state’s Division of Cannabis Control by early September.
These companies would have to meet state and local requirements set forth in Mansfield’s existing zoning codes for commercial and industrial areas. They would also have to have their plans approved by the Permitting and Development Office.
They would not have to abide by the specific zoning regulations and operating rules discussed by Perry and the City Council in recent weeks, which include requiring such dispensaries to operate only in B-2 (general business) zones.
The reason for this is the authorities’ decision that zoning changes must first be approved by the Planning Commission at its regularly scheduled meetings and that a hastily convened special meeting would not be sufficient.
A vote on local zoning ordinances was scheduled for Aug. 20, but Perry said that would not happen now, even though the City Council scheduled the vote during a special meeting four days ago.
“Since we left the council on Tuesday, we have continued to work with our outside (legal) counsel,” Perry said.
“We basically went back and had outside counsel and our law firm review all of our codified ordinances (Ohio Revised Code) and rules and essentially concluded that we had not met the public hearing guidelines regarding zoning.
“There were other (legal) requirements… this was not intentional. We were making other assumptions. This week it was confirmed that we have to meet the (formal planning commission timeline).”
“The recommendation of the legal director and the mayor’s office is that we do not pursue these legislative proposals on Tuesday,” the mayor said.
Instead, she said, her administration will ask lawmakers to approve a law limiting the number of dispensaries in the city to three.
The mayor said she also expects the City Council to vote on a proposal to lift the city’s six-year-old ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.
Perry said it has been difficult to keep up with the speed of the licensing process for recreational cannabis dispensaries since voters approved State Issue 2 last November and the state only began announcing operating guidelines in June.
It became an issue on June 19, when the City Council voted 5-3 against a six-month moratorium on such businesses proposed by Perry in April.
“With zoning … there are a lot of steps and requirements. To really do this, it would have to happen at breakneck speed. Our attorney is advising us not to put this into effect next week,” she said.
“Even if we could restart the 30-day zoning period today … the timeline is just very, very difficult,” Perry said.
The mayor said she will continue to advocate for local zoning changes that would impact future cannabis dispensaries.
“I would have liked to have implemented our zoning by now. The challenge was that the City Council rejected the moratorium in June and at the same time the state began issuing its regulations,” she said.
“There are many communities across the state that are dealing with this. We’re certainly not alone. I was at a meeting (on Thursday) with other mayors from across the state and I heard pretty much the same thing. It’s because of the schedules that are in place here.
“In hindsight, one is always wiser. I wish I had known two months ago what I know today,” said the mayor.
Perry said the tight schedule was the reason she requested the six-month moratorium earlier this year.
“I wanted to see what the rules were to get a more comprehensive picture of it. Ultimately, the township made a decision on it. I’ve been closely following the public comments online… a lot of conversations… all the conversations that have been happening in council.
“I hear the fatigue of people saying, ‘This has been talked about since November.’ But we have new council members, a new administration, a new law director. This is new in the state,” she said.
“It feels a bit like we’re building the plane while we’re flying it, which isn’t ideal, but it is what it is,” the mayor said.
