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City Council will consider cannabis interim moratorium
BY NOELLE OLSON EDITOR
The White Bear City Council is considering an interim moratorium ordinance regarding the operation of cannabis businesses in the city. A public hearing is scheduled for the council’s next meeting Tuesday, July 25.
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City Manager Lindy Crawford said the Minnesota Legislature enacted and the governor signed, 2023 Minnesota Session Laws, Chapter 63 – H.F. No. 100 (Act), which is comprehensive legislation relating to cannabis, including, but not limited to, the establishment of the Office of Cannabis Management, which will manage the regulation and licensing of businesses that wish to sell cannabis.
The Act provides local units of government certain authority related to cannabis businesses, including the authority to:
• Require local registration of certain cannabis businesses operating retail establishments.
• Adopt reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of the operation of cannabis businesses, provided that such restrictions do not prohibit the establishment or operation of cannabis businesses.
• Limit the number of certain cannabis businesses based on the population of the community.
• Prohibit the operation of a cannabis business within 1,000 feet of a school or 500 feet of a daycare, residential treatment facility, or an attraction within a public park that is regularly used by minors, including a playground or athletic field.
The Act also allows cities conducting studies to place an interim moratorium ordinance that may regulate, restrict, and prohibit the operation of cannabis businesses within the city until Jan. 1, 2025. Before adopting an interim ordinance, the governing body must hold a public hearing.
“Given the uncertainty regarding the model ordinances yet to be developed by the Office of Cannabis Management and the broad scope of the changes in Minnesota law brought by the Act, I am recommending that the City Council adopt an interim ordinance imposing a moratorium on the establishment and operation of cannabis businesses in the city of White Bear Lake for the purpose of protecting the planning process and the health, safety and welfare of our residents and citizens,” Crawford said.
