Louisville Metro Council members are still debating how to move forward with zoning regulations for dispensaries and other types of medical marijuana businesses. In the meantime, at least two companies have applied to open retail stores in Jefferson County.
At a meeting last week, Metro Council’s Planning and Zoning committee tabled rules developed by the city’s planning staff. Planners had hoped to have the regulations in place by July 1, when the state’s new Office of Medical Cannabis began accepting applications for opening dispensaries, cultivation facilities, processing facilities or safety compliance labs. But some council members said they need more time to review the proposed ordinance, which would govern where medical marijuana businesses could locate and their hours of operation, among other things.
District 13 Republican Dan Seum Jr., is proposing an alternative ordinance that would significantly scale back the proposed local regulations. Seum said he’s concerned the proposal from planners gives prospective business owners few location options, essentially punishing patients.
“This is medicine,” Seum said. “They're not going to get cannabis and go out in the middle of the intersection with bong pipes doing whirling dervishes listening to Grateful Dead. That's not what this is about.”
The Kentucky General Assembly legalized the use of medical marijuana for a short list of conditions during its legislative session earlier this year. The approved legislation only bars medical marijuana facilities from operating within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare, but it allows local governments to enact stricter rules.
The regulations proposed by Louisville’s Planning Commission in May — which would require Metro Council’s approval to take effect — add numerous types of locations to that 1,000-foot rule, including public parks and playgrounds, religious buildings and community centers. Dispensaries would also have to be farther than 1,000 feet from each other.
For Seum, a longtime proponent of medical marijuana, these restrictions seem overly burdensome.
“When you start putting it in religious organizations and playgrounds and parks … I don't know where you're gonna be able to put this dispensary where these people can get their medicine,” he said.
Seum’s alternative ordinance would remove all of the requirements that go beyond state law. He also wants to drop language prohibiting on-site consumption of medical marijuana, as well as a rule that cultivators, processors and safety compliance facilities install ventilation or air filtration systems to keep the odor from traveling beyond the property line. On-site consumption would still be banned under state law.
Other members of Metro Council’s Planning and Zoning Committee have indicated they are open to hearing arguments from Seum.
Jennifer Chappell, a District 15 Democrat, said at last week’s meeting she’s still trying to understand the “mysterious law” the General Assembly approved and how the state’s medical marijuana program will work.
“There’s a short timeline and we’re trying to understand: What's being accomplished? Can you eat it? Can you smoke it? … What kind of doctor can I go see?,” she said. “There is probably a lot of pearl-clutching going on in the conversation as well, you know, ‘Not in my backyard with a dispensary.’”
Chappell voted in favor of tabling the proposed ordinance to allow council members more time to understand the proposed rules and Seum’s alternative.
This means Metro Council cannot take final action on any additional rules for medical marijuana facilities until Aug. 8 at the earliest.
Proposals for East End, South End dispensaries
With weeks to go in the application period, there are at least two active applications for dispensaries in Jefferson County.
Local health food chain Rainbow Blossom is seeking a license for retail medical marijuana sales at its wellness center located at 3608 Springhurst Blvd. in the East End. The wellness center is “a one-stop shop for resources, education, and products for a healthy mind and body,” according to the company’s website. Independent massage therapists and nutritionists have offices there and the facility is also equipped with a teaching kitchen.
Rainbow Blossom owner Summer Auerbach, whose name is on the dispensary license application, did not respond to requests for comment.
Two investors out of Punta Gorda, Florida are looking to open a dispensary in Okolona.
Dawn Cerbone and Mark Figueredo submitted an application to open a retail store at 5418 Robbs Lane, according to the state’s Office of Medical Cannabis. That address appears to be within 1,000 feet of a church, which wouldn’t comply with the regulations being proposed by city planners.
Mark Figueredo told LPM News he’s submitted two other potential locations to state regulators, but declined to answer followup questions.
Louisville’s delay in finalizing zoning rules for medical marijuana businesses may turn out to be more of an annoyance, rather than a barrier.
Joe Haberman, a planning manager with the city’s Office of Planning, told council members last week the state will allow anyone awarded a medical marijuana business license to transfer the license to a different location, if it turns out their proposal doesn’t work with local zoning regulations.
The cost to submit a license application ranges from $3,000 to run a safety compliance facility to $30,000 to operate the largest possible cultivation business.
Licenses will be awarded through a lottery, which will take place in October.
Kentucky’s medical marijuana program will officially launch Jan. 1, 2025.
