Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Mesquite City Council held a lengthy discussion about the sale of recreational marijuana in the city, before agreeing to table the discussion until Jan. 10.
The item being discussed was the consideration of repealing section 2-14-1 (8) of the city's municipal code which reads:
"It is the intent of this city council that nothing in this chapter shall be construed to pave the way for the legalization of 'recreational' marijuana. The city council further finds that, should the citizens of the state of Nevada ever vote to legalize recreational marijuana, such legalization shall not be approved in the city of Mesquite without approval of the voters in Mesquite on a local referendum, barring any action of the legislature to make such legalization mandatory in all Nevada's cities and towns."
The agenda item was added at the request of Deep Roots Medical who, according to city attorney Bob Sweetin, "wanted to know going forward what this council's position was" on recreational marijuana.
"Though the initiative petition does not lay out a process for cities providing a license for recreational marijuana establishments, most believe that will be somehow worked out in the regulations," Sweetin said. The concern of Deep Roots was whether or not the council would be willing to issue business licenses to recreational marijuana establishments if regulations provide municipalities with that authority, and whether or not the council would repeal the city code calling for a referendum on the issue.
Since state regulations for recreational marijuana won't be discussed until the Jan. 25, 2017, legislative session, the council was reluctant to make any definitive decisions.
"I'd like to make a motion that we table this until the state regulations come out and we can actually make an informed decision on this," said Councilman Brian Wursten. Wursten said the discussion needed to take place after the legislative session, and said, "It's an exercise in futility until we know what we're doing, and we won't know that until these decisions are made at the state level."
Councilman Dave Ballweg said that the city should be proactive in determining their stance on recreational marijuana to create a definitive stance for the city's lobbyist.
City liaison officer Aaron Baker said that "some guidance will be helpful before the session."
"If we wait, we're again going to be relinquished to what everyone else wants to do," Ballweg said. Ballweg also mentioned that 57 percent of Mesquite voters opposed recreational marijuana use in November.
"I haven't given any thought to what kind of legislative direction I want to give to our representative. Jan. 10 would be an opportunity to develop something between now and then," said Councilman George Rapson.
Councilman Geno Withelder encouraged the council to have a stance before the session, and expressed concern about Mesquite resisting recreational marijuana sales.
"I think it's going to come down to control, control, tax, and regulate. And if we don't do that we're going to be missing the boat, and we're going to turn a black market product into a real, real dark black market product and the potential for that is going to be absolutely horrendous," Withelder said.
Councilman Rich Green asked for more public input on the issue before the council developed a consensus.
"I think we ought to hear from our public because that's who placed us in these seats," he said. "Something has changed, the state has legalized it so that is a big change and that may affect how people think. I don't think it's the same ballgame as it was when they went in to make their vote. There's something significant that's happened and we need to take that on board. So I do think we should hear from the public. We need to have as much input as we possibly can and listen to our public," he said.
Earlier in the meeting, the council approved adopting Bill No. 507, which amends the city's municipal code to allow for exemptions to any community facility that knowingly chooses to locate within the 1,000 foot separation requirement for the city's medical marijuana establishment.
A property owner expressed concern to the city that those requirements restrict how they are able to develop their property, according to Richard Secrist, the city's Development Services Director, and that is constitutes a "taking of value."
"In order to avoid potential litigation...we decided to reintroduce the bill," after the exemption provision was voted against earlier this year, Secrist said.
The property owner owned the property before the medical marijuana facility was established.
"This is a large piece of property that they paid for before this facility was there and we have diminished their value, and that's a real issue," Rapson said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Lengthy Recreational Marijuana Discussion Gets Tabled At Council
Author: Lucas M Thomas
Contact: The Spectrum
Photo Credit: Lucas Thomas
Website: The Spectrum
The item being discussed was the consideration of repealing section 2-14-1 (8) of the city's municipal code which reads:
"It is the intent of this city council that nothing in this chapter shall be construed to pave the way for the legalization of 'recreational' marijuana. The city council further finds that, should the citizens of the state of Nevada ever vote to legalize recreational marijuana, such legalization shall not be approved in the city of Mesquite without approval of the voters in Mesquite on a local referendum, barring any action of the legislature to make such legalization mandatory in all Nevada's cities and towns."
The agenda item was added at the request of Deep Roots Medical who, according to city attorney Bob Sweetin, "wanted to know going forward what this council's position was" on recreational marijuana.
"Though the initiative petition does not lay out a process for cities providing a license for recreational marijuana establishments, most believe that will be somehow worked out in the regulations," Sweetin said. The concern of Deep Roots was whether or not the council would be willing to issue business licenses to recreational marijuana establishments if regulations provide municipalities with that authority, and whether or not the council would repeal the city code calling for a referendum on the issue.
Since state regulations for recreational marijuana won't be discussed until the Jan. 25, 2017, legislative session, the council was reluctant to make any definitive decisions.
"I'd like to make a motion that we table this until the state regulations come out and we can actually make an informed decision on this," said Councilman Brian Wursten. Wursten said the discussion needed to take place after the legislative session, and said, "It's an exercise in futility until we know what we're doing, and we won't know that until these decisions are made at the state level."
Councilman Dave Ballweg said that the city should be proactive in determining their stance on recreational marijuana to create a definitive stance for the city's lobbyist.
City liaison officer Aaron Baker said that "some guidance will be helpful before the session."
"If we wait, we're again going to be relinquished to what everyone else wants to do," Ballweg said. Ballweg also mentioned that 57 percent of Mesquite voters opposed recreational marijuana use in November.
"I haven't given any thought to what kind of legislative direction I want to give to our representative. Jan. 10 would be an opportunity to develop something between now and then," said Councilman George Rapson.
Councilman Geno Withelder encouraged the council to have a stance before the session, and expressed concern about Mesquite resisting recreational marijuana sales.
"I think it's going to come down to control, control, tax, and regulate. And if we don't do that we're going to be missing the boat, and we're going to turn a black market product into a real, real dark black market product and the potential for that is going to be absolutely horrendous," Withelder said.
Councilman Rich Green asked for more public input on the issue before the council developed a consensus.
"I think we ought to hear from our public because that's who placed us in these seats," he said. "Something has changed, the state has legalized it so that is a big change and that may affect how people think. I don't think it's the same ballgame as it was when they went in to make their vote. There's something significant that's happened and we need to take that on board. So I do think we should hear from the public. We need to have as much input as we possibly can and listen to our public," he said.
Earlier in the meeting, the council approved adopting Bill No. 507, which amends the city's municipal code to allow for exemptions to any community facility that knowingly chooses to locate within the 1,000 foot separation requirement for the city's medical marijuana establishment.
A property owner expressed concern to the city that those requirements restrict how they are able to develop their property, according to Richard Secrist, the city's Development Services Director, and that is constitutes a "taking of value."
"In order to avoid potential litigation...we decided to reintroduce the bill," after the exemption provision was voted against earlier this year, Secrist said.
The property owner owned the property before the medical marijuana facility was established.
"This is a large piece of property that they paid for before this facility was there and we have diminished their value, and that's a real issue," Rapson said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Lengthy Recreational Marijuana Discussion Gets Tabled At Council
Author: Lucas M Thomas
Contact: The Spectrum
Photo Credit: Lucas Thomas
Website: The Spectrum
