Independence starts preliminary planning for Medical Cannabis zones
Independence City Council Prepares for Potential Medical Cannabis Businesses with Preliminary Zoning Work.
The Independence City Council passed a resolution to begin preliminary zoning work for medical cannabis businesses at their meeting Monday night, even though the city has already voted to put the issue on the ballot in November.
Statements from city staff, Mayor Chris Reinersman and the council members suggest this is a way for the city to prepare ahead of time so that the necessary zoning is in place by Jan. 1, when businesses can legally start operating, in case the ballot measure passes.
“It will be on the ballot,” Reinersman said on Monday. “In preparation for it if it passes, we wanted to go ahead and get the ball rolling on the zoning.”
If the ballot measure doesn’t pass, the point will be moot, but the resolution allows City Administrator Chris Moriconi to submit a text amendment to Kenton County Planning and Development Services to begin the planning process for how the zones will be divided.
Cities must establish zones by Jan. 1, 2025 regulating where medical cannabis businesses can operate and with the ballot vote not occurring until November, the city was concerned they might be crunched for time in establishing zones before next year.
Kenton County Fiscal Court has performed a first reading that would ban the operation of medial cannabis businesses throughout the county. Individual cities can override this by establishing their own zoning outright or by asking the voters to decide before establishing zones. Otherwise, cities would conform to the zoning established by the county.
“We should be well positioned to have zoning in place by Jan. 1,” Reinersman said.
