Medical Cannabis zoning clears planning commission
Kenton County Planning Commission Approves Erlanger's Medical Cannabis Zoning Proposal.
The Kenton County Planning Commission heard a proposal from the City of Erlanger at their meeting Wednesday night aimed at establishing zoning regulations for medical cannabis businesses in the city. The move follows discussion of said regulations among the Erlanger City Council in June.
The commission voted to approve the proposal, with only one dissenting vote from Commissioner Tom France. The zoning amendment will now return to the city council, for two public readings and a vote.
The zoning change would allow the operation of medical cannabis cultivation, processing, producing and safety compliance facilities as permitted uses within the city’s business park, flex industrial and general industrial zones. Dispensaries, on the other hand, could operate in residential office conversion, neighborhood commercial, community commercial, highway commercial and mixed-use zones.
Cities and counties can regulate medical cannabis in one of three ways:
- Prohibiting it outright
- By establishing zones where the businesses are allowable
- By sending the issue to the ballot, allowing residents to decide.
The legalization of medical cannabis in Kentucky came about on March 31, 2023, when Gov. Andy Beshear signed Senate Bill 47 into law. The law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025, enabled the regulation of medical marijuana statewide and established the administration of such regulation under the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the newly-established Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program.
The law established five kinds of allowable facilities: cultivating centers where the cannabis would be grown, processing facilities where the plants are refined for medical use, hybrid facilities where both cultivation and processing would take place, dispensaries and safety facilities where products are tested to ensure they’re safe to use.
The next meeting of the Kenton County Planning Commission will take place on Thursday, Aug. 1.
