Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Behlehem is considering a zoning proposal that would specify where medical marijuana businesses could set up shop.
But patients wouldn't be filling the prescription downtown or at a neighborhood's corner store.
The five-page zoning ordinance, which the Planning Commission backed earlier this month, allows medical marijuana dispensaries in general commercial and commercial shopping districts, including areas such as sections of Stefko Boulevard, Easton Avenue, and Schoenersville Road, as well as the industrial redevelopment district such as along Route 412.
The city will allow medical marijuana to be grown and processed in several industrial districts, like some portions of the former Bethlehem Steel plant, and the office research district, which includes part of South Mountain.
The ordinance also allows for academic clinics and research centers, which includes an accredited medical school in the state that partners with an acute care hospital licensed by the state. Those centers would be able to operate in industrial districts, office and research districts, commercial mixed-use districts and office mixed use districts.
Alicia Miller Karner, city director of community and economic development, said no formal plans or permit applications have been submitted for a medical marijuana business but the city has received interest from people who are interested in running such businesses in Bethlehem.
Karner said that absent an ordinance, medical marijuana, for example, would be able to be dispensed anywhere the city's zoning code allowed a pharmacy.
The zoning proposal must now go before City Council, which will schedule a public hearing.
The city began drafting the zoning proposal in the wake of the state last year legalizing the sale of medical marijuana. The submission deadline to the state for a permit is Monday.
The state Department of Health is releasing 27 permits for dispensaries and 12 for grower/processors in what it is calling "phase one." That's about half of the permits authorized under the 2016 law.
The permits are divided by region. The Lehigh Valley is limited to two dispensary licensees and two grower/processors. Each dispensary permit allows up to two additional sites, and the Lehigh Valley could be home to as many as eight medical marijuana storefronts.
Bethlehem is one of many municipalities across the Lehigh Valley preparing for the new industry.
John Von Kerczek, senior community planner at the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, said municipalities leave themselves vulnerable to legal challenges if they do not plan for a legal use.
The LVPC has reviewed or is reviewing ordinances from Williams Township, Bangor, Bethlehem Township, Hellertown, Emmaus, Plainfield Township and Hanover Township, Northampton County.
Some businesses have already broached several communities in the area about possible medical marijuana uses, including Emmaus and East Allen Township.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Here's Where Medica Marijuana Businesses Could Go In Bethlehem
Author: Nicole Radzievich
Contact: The Morning Call
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Morning Call
But patients wouldn't be filling the prescription downtown or at a neighborhood's corner store.
The five-page zoning ordinance, which the Planning Commission backed earlier this month, allows medical marijuana dispensaries in general commercial and commercial shopping districts, including areas such as sections of Stefko Boulevard, Easton Avenue, and Schoenersville Road, as well as the industrial redevelopment district such as along Route 412.
The city will allow medical marijuana to be grown and processed in several industrial districts, like some portions of the former Bethlehem Steel plant, and the office research district, which includes part of South Mountain.
The ordinance also allows for academic clinics and research centers, which includes an accredited medical school in the state that partners with an acute care hospital licensed by the state. Those centers would be able to operate in industrial districts, office and research districts, commercial mixed-use districts and office mixed use districts.
Alicia Miller Karner, city director of community and economic development, said no formal plans or permit applications have been submitted for a medical marijuana business but the city has received interest from people who are interested in running such businesses in Bethlehem.
Karner said that absent an ordinance, medical marijuana, for example, would be able to be dispensed anywhere the city's zoning code allowed a pharmacy.
The zoning proposal must now go before City Council, which will schedule a public hearing.
The city began drafting the zoning proposal in the wake of the state last year legalizing the sale of medical marijuana. The submission deadline to the state for a permit is Monday.
The state Department of Health is releasing 27 permits for dispensaries and 12 for grower/processors in what it is calling "phase one." That's about half of the permits authorized under the 2016 law.
The permits are divided by region. The Lehigh Valley is limited to two dispensary licensees and two grower/processors. Each dispensary permit allows up to two additional sites, and the Lehigh Valley could be home to as many as eight medical marijuana storefronts.
Bethlehem is one of many municipalities across the Lehigh Valley preparing for the new industry.
John Von Kerczek, senior community planner at the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, said municipalities leave themselves vulnerable to legal challenges if they do not plan for a legal use.
The LVPC has reviewed or is reviewing ordinances from Williams Township, Bangor, Bethlehem Township, Hellertown, Emmaus, Plainfield Township and Hanover Township, Northampton County.
Some businesses have already broached several communities in the area about possible medical marijuana uses, including Emmaus and East Allen Township.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Here's Where Medica Marijuana Businesses Could Go In Bethlehem
Author: Nicole Radzievich
Contact: The Morning Call
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Morning Call
