Medical marijuana facilities will be have to maintain a 500-foot buffer between their front door and the edge of property where schools, churches or state-licensed daycares are located.
Poplar Bluff City Council members voted 6-0 Monday on the limited buffer zone, opting not to go with the state maximum of 1,000 feet. Council member at-large Ron Black was absent, but had previously stated he opposed the reduced buffer zone.
The state will accept applications Aug. 3-17 for cultivation, manufacturing, dispensary and testing facilities.
As of June 20, the state has received pre-applications for two cultivation facilities that would like to locate in Butler County, four dispensaries and one manufacturer.
“On the 1,000-foot (zone), you’re asking a little bit too much,” Mayor Robert Smith said after the council meeting. “I’m afraid we would run these particular (businesses) outside the city and would not receive any revenue at all on that. Five hundred feet is a long way.”
Council member Lisa Parson of Ward 1 agreed, saying the 1,000-foot buffer zone would force facilities into the county.
“They’re going to be here regardless,” she said, adding, “We might as well make some tax dollars.”
Parson said explanations by city officials about the tight restrictions placed on the businesses helped her reach her decision, including that the products cannot be used on the facility property and limits on signage for the locations.
Black said last week that he was not in favor of having the businesses at all and would prefer to regulate them to the extent allowable within the law.
Dispensaries are expected to open by the spring of 2020.
Dispensaries would be allowed in the following districts, under the ordinance passed by council: C-2 general commercial, C-1 neighborhood commercial, C-3 central commercial and CX-3 central commercial, mixed-use.
A conditional use permit would be required for dispensaries in areas designated C-1, C-3 and CX-3, but not in C-2.
Dispensaries are the only types of facilities that require a conditional use permit. Conditional use permits are awarded to the owners of a business and require additional city approval for issuance. New owners must go re-apply for the permits when an operation changes hands.
Manufacturing, testing and cultivation would not require a conditional use permit, but would be limited to general and light industrial districts. Manufacturing and testing could also occur in some areas of general commercial districts.
Only patients deemed qualified by the state will be allowed to purchase medical marijuana. These include those suffering from cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, intractable migraines, a chronic medical condition that causes severe pain, any terminal illness, other chronic medical concerns when approved by a physician, HIV and debilitating psychiatric disorders.