Public Hearing Wednesday, November 13th – 7:00 p.m. Aldermanic Chambers
From Ald. Amy Sangiolo:
As you may have heard or read, the City voted for a moratorium on locating medical marijuana dispensaries for 3 months while the City determines the best zoning districts would be appropriate.
Whether people are in favor of these or not, the reality is that the State has authorized 35 of these dispensaries to be located throughout the state – only one in a municipality but up to 5 in a county. We know there is at least one application filed in the City but do not know what location that organization is looking at.
The State has its own requirements in terms of distance from schools, security, appearance of the building, etc. If we do not pass zoning, the State may use it’s own guidelines in terms of approving the locating one in a particular town or City without input from the municipality which is why it is critical we as a City, create our own zoning guidelines. So the issue is not whether we should allow these dispensaries in our community – it is where we should appropriately locate them.
In order to ensure that folks have the necessary information to formulate an opinion, I thought it might be useful to send some links to the discussions and material that have been shared with the Aldermen prior to the public hearing which will take place this Wednesday evening, at 7:00 p.m. in the Aldermanic Chambers. There are a few other items that the Zoning and Planning Committee will also hear, so the item will likely not be heard until after 8. Folks can always submit written comments and send them to dolson@newtoma.gov and ask that their comments be forwarded to the Full Board of Aldermen.
Below are reference links.
Thanks!
Amy Sangiolo (aldermansangiolo@gmail.com)
Relevant links:
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This news article provides more information.