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<br />Page 3 of 5 <br /> <br />or mezzobusinesses can operate multiple locations and the cultivation and manufacturing part of <br />the license can be located separately from the retail location. As such, the uses may have multiple <br />parts of a singular building that make up a single structure such as a warehouse type facility for <br /> <br />Registration v. Licensing <br />The OCM will issue and manage licenses for cannabis businesses. Retail operations for cannabis <br />must register with local units of government before making retail sales to customers or patients. <br />Currently, local government units are required to allow for one registration for every 12,500 <br />residents. The statute specifies these registrants as cannabis retailers, cannabis mezzobusinesses <br />with a retail operations endorsement, and cannabis microbusinesses with a retail operations <br />endorsement. This minimum of one applies only to cannabis retailer registration. It is currently <br />unclear if the City will be able to limit non-retailer uses to any capacity, however, staff believes <br />uses that are not required to register cannot be prohibited. <br /> <br />Draft Zoning Standards <br />The first draft of rules from the OCM addresses many of the operational challenges related to <br />cannabis such as security, testing, and tracking product through the commercial businesses. There <br />are gaps left by the OCM’s first draft that need to be addressed by local municipalities such as <br />setbacks, odor control, screening, and nuisances. The OCM is still in the process of developing the <br />final rules, so the below zoning standards are presented as a draft of what zoning regulations <br />regarding cannabis uses may look like. Staff will continue to monitor the activity of OCM to ensure <br />that the standards presented to the Commission reflect and work with the final rules from OCM. <br /> <br />The City Council reviewed the draft ordinance included within the Local Guide from the OCM at <br />their September 23, 2024, meeting and a first draft of the zoning standards at their October 14, <br />2024, meeting and gave direction for the standards. The Council were presented with the following <br />questions: <br /> <br />• Do the permitted districts reflect the vision of the City? <br />• Should the 1,000 ft. setback apply to cannabis uses solely, or cannabis and hemp <br />business? <br />• Does the City want to require odor control measures that limit the odor to the property <br />line or the exterior of the facility? <br />• Are there hours of operations the City wants to impose on cannabis related businesses? <br />• Does the City want to regulate cannabis testing facilities separately from other “Research <br />and development facilities,” which has more permissive standards? <br />Changes from the work session include a new use for cannabis testing facilities, limiting cannabis <br />retail uses to the B-4 zoning district, limiting cultivation, manufacturing, and wholesaling to the <br />GB zoning district, limiting hours of sale of cannabinoids. <br /> <br />The proposed standards have been drafted based on the first draft of rules that the OCM <br />published on July 30, 2024, the City Council comments from the September 23, 2024, work <br />session, and the City Council comments from the October 14, 2024, work session. The future <br />ordinance amendment may change based on the future changes to the rule that the OCM has <br />proposed. The standards include: