May 29, 2024 | By: Sammy Holladay
Proposed Ordinance Could Dictate the Future of Cannabis in Brainerd
With the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Minnesota, many city governments are preparing what works best for their communities. Reporter Sammy Holladay sat down with two Brainerd officials to discuss the future of cannabis would look like there.
For the city of Brainerd, the most important thing for the future of cannabis is where dispensaries will be allowed to operate.
“Figuring out where it goes and how that operates and what the restrictions are in terms of proximity to schools and that sort of thing is the most important part,” said Brainerd Mayor Dave Badeaux in an interview with Lakeland News.
A proposed ordinance regarding cannabis is currently in the works. That ordinance currently has restrictions on the proximity of a dispensary in a few sensitive areas.
“The proposed ordinance that will be going to council does restrict them to within 100 feet of schools, recovery facilities, children’s playgrounds,” explained James Kramvik, Brainerd Community Development Director. “And then if they’re within 300 feet of that, they’d require a conditional use permit.”
With no model ordinance from the state to go off of, Brainerd reached out to several cities in other states that have previously legalized cannabis.
“They really have not had any issues with them,” said Kramvik. “So that restriction of how close they can be to sensitive areas is in a lot of other state statutes. So Brainerd just really had to decide, you know, in what proximity do we potentially want adult-use cannabis retail stores in relation to our sensitive areas.”
Another item the city is trying to iron out regarding cannabis is growing and manufacturing operations. With smell being a major concern, those operations would be restricted to only one zone throughout city limits.
“So right now, the Planning Commission has recommended that those areas for growing and manufacturing be restricted to industrial only, and then it would also be conditional use permit,” Kramvik added. “That way, it could be reviewed by surrounding properties to see if there’d be any negative impacts from it.”
What is most important to the city when drafting these ordinances is to ensure that the people of Brainerd will remain safe.
“Our job is simply to make sure that the citizens of Brainerd are protected in case there is some kind of outlandish thing that we don’t foresee,” stated Badeaux.
In addition to the ordinance that will describe where businesses can operate, another ordinance will lay out registration and license fees. Both ordinances are expected to be presented to the city council at the next meeting on June 3.