Rules have been proposed for regulating the cultivation, processing, testing, and sale of medical marijuana in the city of Toledo.
During a hearing Thursday in Government Center, the Toledo Plan Commission will take up proposed regulations drafted by its staff for medical-marijuana businesses that Ohio soon will license.
The rules cover the type of zoning needed for growers, sellers, and other medical-marijuana related-operations as well as distances they must be from schools and churches, hours of operations, and parking requirements.
The public hearing for the regulations will be among the issues taken up by commissioners at their 2 p.m. meeting in city council chambers.
Tom Gibbons, plan commission director, said the rules were prepared in advance of the licensing process being developed and finalized by the Ohio Department of Commerce for medical marijuana use in the state.
“We saw what was going on at the state level. We knew it was coming and the planning staff would eventually have to address it,” he said. “We wanted to get ahead of the game. We want to get the regulations on the books like other communities have.”
The use of marijuana for medical purposes was legalized last September by state law. It allows patients with qualifying medical conditions and recommendations by a certified physician to apply for medical-marijuana patient cards.
House Bill 523, the law that legalized marijuana for medical purposes, left it up to state agencies to determine the rules for medical marijuana’s cultivation, processing, and sale. Licenses for growers will be announced in September.
Eight groups have submitted certificates of zoning compliance as part of the state application process to locate cultivating facilities within the city.
The groups and the locations for proposed operations are:
● Justice Grown Ohio LLC, 302 S. Byrne Rd.
● GTI Ohio LLC, Jason Street near Alexis Road.
● Agrimed Industries of Ohio LLC, 367 E. State Line Rd. and 715 Spencer St.
● OhiGrow LLC, 367 E. State Line Rd.
● Hanging Gardens PA LLC, 1802 Nebraska Ave.
● HMS Health LLC, 4521 Lint Ave. and 4500 N. Detroit Ave.
● Ohio Green Grow LLC, 4010 South Ave.
● Lake Erie Compassion Care, Cassandra Drive near Alexis.
The proposed Toledo regulations would require growers — cultivators and processors — to operate in industrial-zoned land and sellers or dispensers to locate on property zoned for commercial use. Dispensers also would be required to get special use permits approval through city council.
Testing facilities could locate in some commercial areas and industrial-zoned property, according to the proposed regulations.
None of the medical-marijuana businesses, including dispensers, would be allowed to operate on property zoned for residential use.
In keeping with Ohio law, Toledo’s proposed regulations prohibit medical marijuana facilities from locating within 500 feet of a church, child daycare, school, park, playground, or library.
The local rules being proposed would go a step further than state law by requiring dispensaries from locating at least 1,000 feet from one another, a measure that would hinder clustering of the retail operations.
Hours for retail operations at dispensers would be limited from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. or hours consistent with medical-marijuana dispensary permits issued by the state.
“We primarily focused on dispensers because they will have a direct impact or effect on the public,” Mr. Gibbons said.
After the plan commissioners’ review, the regulations will be forwarded to Toledo council’s planning and zoning committee, and then to the full council for a vote.
credit:toledoblade.com
