Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
The Bandon City Council has adopted an ordinance to place a number of conditions on medical marijuana facilities within the city limits.
But not without some dissent among council members.
"I wish we could just say no, frankly," said Mayor Mary Schamehorn at the May 4 regular meeting following an update by City Manager Chris Good. The meeting was continued to the following day for a final vote on the issue.
Councilor Geri Procetto agreed, asking what would happen if the council refused to allow medical marijuana facilities within city limits. Councilor Chris Powell said if the city must allow medical marijuana facilities, they should be located at pharmacies where other medications are obtained. Councilor Claudine Hundhausen said she was concerned about any possible odor from such a facility.
Medical marijuana dispensaries were passed by the Oregon Legislature but recreational marijuana use and facilities were enacted by a vote of the people. Recreational use will be allowed beginning July 1 and the state legislature is still working out the details of how it will be regulated.
The city's new ordinance goes into effect just as the City Council's moratorium on medical marijuana facilities expires. That moratorium was adopted in May 2014. No medical marijuana facility applications have been filed with the city to date.
Directed by the council, the Bandon Planning Commission has been working on an ordinance for the past year that will define where medical marijuana facilities can be located within city limits.
According to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program, dispensaries in Oregon must be located in an area zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed use, or as agricultural land. A dispensary may not be located within 1,000 feet of a school or another registered dispensary, and may not be at an address registered with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program as a grow site.
In addition to several hours-long work sessions and a public hearing last week, a public forum was held at The Barn several months ago to gather input. Neither the work sessions nor the forum were well-attended.
Some city councilors and the mayor would not like to see any medical marijuana facilities within city limits.
But the state mandates that the facilities be allowed, though cities may enact stricter rules than recommended, which is exactly what the Bandon City Council did last Tuesday. Despite a recommendation by the planning commission to allow the dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a school, the city's new ordinance only allows them within 1,500 feet of a school.
"We are allowed to be more restrictive," Schamehorn said. "Some cities aren't allowing them within 2,000 feet of schools."
"I don't know why the cities are putting up with the crap of having this crammed down our throats," Powell said.
"There are people who feel it helps them," Vick countered.
"Well obviously they've been getting it somewhere," Schamehorn said.
Hundhausen said she was concerned that once medical marijuana facilities are sited, when the recreational rules are worked out, those facilities will then sell it for recreational purposes as well.
City Attorney Fred Carleton said the two will be considered distinct operations.
The council voted 4-2 at the May 4 meeting to pass the ordinance to second reading, with councilors Brian Vick and Peter Braun opposed. But since the council can't enact an ordinance in the same day if the vote is not unanimous, the council reconvened the following afternoon for a second vote, which was unanimously in favor.
Braun and Vick said they voted no at the first meeting because they wanted to see an updated map on whether the 1,500 feet would effectively shut out the possibility of such facilities in town. A map showing the area where the facilities will be allowed is available on the city's website, Home Page | City of Bandon, Oregon. Generally, under the new ordinance, the facilities will be allowed at the south end of town near U.S. Highway 101 and before Seabird Drive, in the industrial area by Bandon Supply and the future city shop and an area near Highway 42S before Ohio Avenue.
After some discussion, the final vote was unanimous to pass the ordinance with the 1,500 feet stipulation. The council also amended the planning commission's proposed ordinance by adding the South Coast Head Start building on Fillmore Avenue as a school, though the state only defines schools for the purpose of the ordinance as kindergarten to 12th grade.
Schamehorn argued that "pot-heads" would be loitering near where preschoolers attend class if they didn't define the Head Start building as a school because a medical marijuana dispensary could be located across the street in an area that is zoned light industrial.
The facilities will only be permitted in general commercial or light industrial zones. Each facility will require a conditional use permit, which can be obtained by going before the planning commission.
No medical marijuana production may occur onsite at a dispensary and each facility must use an air filtration and ventilation system to confine objectionable odors.
Anyone convicted of the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance once or more in the previous five years, or twice in a lifetime cannot be an operator or employee, or have a financial interest in a dispensary.
Medical marijuana facilities may not feature a sign promoting or showing any product.
The City Council also limited operating hours for medical marijuana facilities to any eight hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
"There's some of us who would prefer not to have it in town at all," said Schamehorn. "This is an opportunity to send a statement without doing something illegal."
News Moderator: @Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Bandon adopts ordinance on medical marijuana facilities : Bandon Western World
Author: Amy Moss Strong
Contact: Contact Us us
Photo Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Website: The World
But not without some dissent among council members.
"I wish we could just say no, frankly," said Mayor Mary Schamehorn at the May 4 regular meeting following an update by City Manager Chris Good. The meeting was continued to the following day for a final vote on the issue.
Councilor Geri Procetto agreed, asking what would happen if the council refused to allow medical marijuana facilities within city limits. Councilor Chris Powell said if the city must allow medical marijuana facilities, they should be located at pharmacies where other medications are obtained. Councilor Claudine Hundhausen said she was concerned about any possible odor from such a facility.
Medical marijuana dispensaries were passed by the Oregon Legislature but recreational marijuana use and facilities were enacted by a vote of the people. Recreational use will be allowed beginning July 1 and the state legislature is still working out the details of how it will be regulated.
The city's new ordinance goes into effect just as the City Council's moratorium on medical marijuana facilities expires. That moratorium was adopted in May 2014. No medical marijuana facility applications have been filed with the city to date.
Directed by the council, the Bandon Planning Commission has been working on an ordinance for the past year that will define where medical marijuana facilities can be located within city limits.
According to the Oregon Medical Marijuana Dispensary Program, dispensaries in Oregon must be located in an area zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed use, or as agricultural land. A dispensary may not be located within 1,000 feet of a school or another registered dispensary, and may not be at an address registered with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program as a grow site.
In addition to several hours-long work sessions and a public hearing last week, a public forum was held at The Barn several months ago to gather input. Neither the work sessions nor the forum were well-attended.
Some city councilors and the mayor would not like to see any medical marijuana facilities within city limits.
But the state mandates that the facilities be allowed, though cities may enact stricter rules than recommended, which is exactly what the Bandon City Council did last Tuesday. Despite a recommendation by the planning commission to allow the dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a school, the city's new ordinance only allows them within 1,500 feet of a school.
"We are allowed to be more restrictive," Schamehorn said. "Some cities aren't allowing them within 2,000 feet of schools."
"I don't know why the cities are putting up with the crap of having this crammed down our throats," Powell said.
"There are people who feel it helps them," Vick countered.
"Well obviously they've been getting it somewhere," Schamehorn said.
Hundhausen said she was concerned that once medical marijuana facilities are sited, when the recreational rules are worked out, those facilities will then sell it for recreational purposes as well.
City Attorney Fred Carleton said the two will be considered distinct operations.
The council voted 4-2 at the May 4 meeting to pass the ordinance to second reading, with councilors Brian Vick and Peter Braun opposed. But since the council can't enact an ordinance in the same day if the vote is not unanimous, the council reconvened the following afternoon for a second vote, which was unanimously in favor.
Braun and Vick said they voted no at the first meeting because they wanted to see an updated map on whether the 1,500 feet would effectively shut out the possibility of such facilities in town. A map showing the area where the facilities will be allowed is available on the city's website, Home Page | City of Bandon, Oregon. Generally, under the new ordinance, the facilities will be allowed at the south end of town near U.S. Highway 101 and before Seabird Drive, in the industrial area by Bandon Supply and the future city shop and an area near Highway 42S before Ohio Avenue.
After some discussion, the final vote was unanimous to pass the ordinance with the 1,500 feet stipulation. The council also amended the planning commission's proposed ordinance by adding the South Coast Head Start building on Fillmore Avenue as a school, though the state only defines schools for the purpose of the ordinance as kindergarten to 12th grade.
Schamehorn argued that "pot-heads" would be loitering near where preschoolers attend class if they didn't define the Head Start building as a school because a medical marijuana dispensary could be located across the street in an area that is zoned light industrial.
The facilities will only be permitted in general commercial or light industrial zones. Each facility will require a conditional use permit, which can be obtained by going before the planning commission.
No medical marijuana production may occur onsite at a dispensary and each facility must use an air filtration and ventilation system to confine objectionable odors.
Anyone convicted of the manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance once or more in the previous five years, or twice in a lifetime cannot be an operator or employee, or have a financial interest in a dispensary.
Medical marijuana facilities may not feature a sign promoting or showing any product.
The City Council also limited operating hours for medical marijuana facilities to any eight hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
"There's some of us who would prefer not to have it in town at all," said Schamehorn. "This is an opportunity to send a statement without doing something illegal."
News Moderator: @Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Bandon adopts ordinance on medical marijuana facilities : Bandon Western World
Author: Amy Moss Strong
Contact: Contact Us us
Photo Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Website: The World
