The Echo Press..
The long and rocky road to regulate adult use cannabis chugged ahead at Monday night’s Alexandria City Council meeting.
The council gave preliminary approval to a local ordinance that complies with the Minnesota Office of Cannabis requirements – as they stand now.
The council approved the first reading of the ordinance 5-0. It held a public hearing before taking action but no one from the public commented. A second public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 27.
The purpose of the ordinance is to protect the public health, safety and welfare of residents by regulating cannabis businesses within the legal boundaries of the city. No individual or entity may operate a state-licensed cannabis retail business within the city without first registering it. An 11-page document with full details of the ordinance can be found on the City of Alexandria’s website.
ALEX-DRAFT-ORDINANCE-010925-First-Reading-Version-002Anyone who sells the product to a customer or patient without valid registration faces a civil penalty of $2,000 for each violation. An initial retail registration fee will be $500 or half the state license fee, whichever is less. A renewal fee will be $1,000 or half the state fee, whichever is less.
The city’s ordinance includes buffer requirements for businesses that sell cannabis products. The buffer zones are similar to those enacted for tobacco and liquor. Here are the zones (ranges allowed by the state are in parenthesis):
- Schools – 150 feet, except in the central business district where there are no buffers (state allows 0 to 1,000 feet).
- Residential day cares – zero feet (zero to 500 feet).
- Residential treatment facility/addiction recovery center – 300 feet (zero to 500 feet).
- Attractions within public parks – zero feet (zero to 500 feet).
- Other cannabis businesses – 1,000 feet (no maximum was set by the state).
Here’s a look at some of the city’s other restrictions:
Cannabis retailers must operate and maintain a closed-circuit TV surveillance system, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
A cannabis retail use is prohibited from sharing a common entrance or a premises with a business licensed as a tobacco products shop. This doesn’t apply to lower-potency hemp edibles.
No sales are allowed by means of a self-service display.
No sales are allowed at a moveable place of business.
No sales outside of original packaging.
Hours are limited to 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
All cannabis businesses registered by the city must provide a certificate of insurance.
Lower potency hemp edible sales are permitted in business zones 1 and 2 and in the two city-owned liquor stores.
“As the state continues to wind its way through the process of establishing the rules and regulations for adult use cannabis, we anticipate that future changes to the ordinance may be necessary,” said City Administrator Marty Schultz.
The Office of Cannabis Management created a model local ordinance that gives local units of government flexibility in creating their own ordinances. The council decided to enact its own cannabis ordinance instead of delegating it to the county.
The city will also use its authority to register cannabis businesses, not the county.
The city plans to conduct compliance checks prior to registering the cannabis retailers.
Although the state allows Alexandria to create a system that limits the number of retail registrations within its boundaries to two, the city will use zoning and land restrictions as the means to limit registrations.
The city has been monitoring and reviewing guidance from the state for the past 18 months, Schultz said. The council previously adopted a moratorium that prohibited cannabis businesses from opening through Dec. 31, 2024.
The latest information it has is that the state will be accepting license applications from Feb. 18 to March 14. A lottery for capped license types will take place in May or June.
“It’s unclear exactly when the state will begin issuing licenses,” Schultz said. “Once a license is issued, the license holder must register with a local unit of government, which will ensure that their proposed location meets all local regulations.”
https://www.echopress.com/news/local/alexandria-makes-progress-in-regulating-cannabis
