St. Paul City Council to take public comment on cannabis business regulations

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A proposal up for consideration in St. Paul would give the green light for cannabis shops almost anywhere other retail stores are allowed to operate in the city.
The city council’s proposed ordinance, which will get a public hearing on Wednesday, requires these prospective businesses to have 24-hour surveillance and prohibits sharing a common entrance with tobacco shops. They also are barred from opening within 300 feet of a school.
The legislature set the law legalizing weed but gave local governments the power to regulate where and when businesses operate in their communities through their local zoning laws. But the guidelines in status — allowing cities and counties to limit the number of cannabis dispensaries to one for every 12,500 people and to prohibit operations within 1,000 feet of a school — are more restrictive than the St. Paul proposal. 
Leili Fatehi, who leads a cannabis consulting firm and helped craft the state law, said the city’s approach is the right one, calling it “reasonable and responsible.”
“If they went with 1,000 [feet parameter], it would have zoned out a majority of the available space in the city for retail, and that would have created a significant problem in terms of there being a lack of regulated retail locations where adults purchase these products,” Fatehi said.  “It would have continued to flourish as an illicit market.”
City officials conducted a study comparing a 300-feet restriction surrounding schools with the 1,000-feet restriction lawmakers set as the ceiling. They found the latter would mean more than 60% of space zoned for retail would be off-limits.
Choosing to set a 300-feet benchmark makes 90% of that area eligible for cannabis retailers. 
Some are worried, though, about the less stringent rules in the capital city. In a written letter to the council, the Association for NonSmokers of Minnesota urged members to reconsider the ordinance and take “full advantage of the small number of local control measures” permitted by the law.  
“if, after a bit of history, there is a desire to loosen these restrictions, that is relatively easy to do. What is difficult to do is tighten regulation once businesses are established and investments have been made,” wrote Jeanne Weigum, the organization’s president. “There is no compelling reason to set the bar low when the option of starting slowly and then potentially decreasing the distance requirement is readily available.”
State law also allows local governments to prohibit cannabis retailers within 500 feet of daycares, residential treatment facilities, or parks with playgrounds or athletic fields regularly used by children. 
The draft regulation in St. Paul would allow businesses to cultivate marijuana on a commercial scale in areas zoned for industrial use. 
Action by the city council on zoning requirements is only one small piece of the puzzle to launch a legal cannabis market in Minnesota. Businesses need to apply and get approved for a state license to operate and that is expected to begin early next year. 
The state Office of Cannabis Management tasked with regulatory oversight has started a process of pre-approving some early licenses.
Residents can weigh in on the St. Paul ordinance during the Wednesday city council meeting, which begins at 3:30 p.m.