Cape city officials want input on medical marijuana zoning

Cape Girardeau city officials want the public to weigh in on proposed medical-marijuana regulations that have left the city council divided.

The city, through its website, is seeking public input through an online survey and soliciting online comments.

City officials also are encouraging the public to voice their views at a planning and zoning commission tonight and at the City Council's July 1 public hearing.

The planning and zoning commission meeting at city hall will begin at 7 p.m. The city council meeting will start at 5 p.m.

Some council members are pushing to allow medical marijuana dispensaries within 200 feet of schools, day cares and churches in Cape Girardeau's central business district, which includes the downtown.

Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com Cape Girardeau City Hall at 401 Independence St. on Monday, April 1, 2019, in Cape Girardeau. Jacob Wiegand ~ jwiegand@semissourian.com

Jackson city officials, meanwhile, are considering an even less restrictive measure. It would allow all types of medical marijuana facilities to be located within 100 feet of schools, day cares and churches.

The Perryville, Missouri, Board of Aldermen recently approved a 100-foot buffer zone for medical marijuana dispensaries and the Poplar Bluff, Missouri, City Council is looking at a 500-foot restriction.

Jackson's planning and zoning commission will consider the issue when it meets at 6 p.m. today at city hall.

Cape Girardeau's city staff and planning commission earlier this year recommended medical marijuana dispensaries, and cultivation, manufacturing and transportation facilities be allowed only in parts of four nonresidential zoning districts and not within 1,000 feet of existing churches, day cares and elementary and secondary schools.

But Ward 1 Councilman Daniel Presson and Ward 4 Councilman Robbie Guard want to implement the less restrictive limit in the central business district. The two councilmen have said the 1,000-foot buffer would prevent dispensaries from being located downtown.

Ward 6 Councilwoman Stacy Kinder and Ward 3 Councilman Victor Gunn oppose the 200-foot buffer. They want to adopt the 1,000-foot buffer, the maximum distance allowed under a constitutional amendment approved by Missourians last year that legalized medical marijuana for certain patients under the supervision of a prescribing doctor.

The city's website notes, "Some council members cite that marijuana, still illegal at the federal level, should be as far away from our schools, day cares and churches as allowed within the law. Other policymakers want smaller buffer zones because they are eager to capture anticipated jobs and economic impact."

The city council and the zoning commission "have generally agreed," according to the city's website, to restrict hours of operation for non-dispensary facilities, but allow dispensaries to operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.

Non-dispensary businesses would include marijuana-growing and marijuana-infused products operations as well as medical-marijuana transportation facilities.

Ward 5 Councilman Ryan Essex has said he could support the less restrictive zoning proposal for the central business district.

But Essex said he wants to hear from the public and could change his mind on the buffer-zone issue.

As a councilman, Essex said, "it is my responsibility to listen to them."

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) will begin accepting permit applications for marijuana facilities Aug. 3.

City officials want to adopt zoning restrictions before the state starts receiving applications.

City manager Scott Meyer said officials want to hear from residents regarding the medical marijuana issue.

The city's website provides "another avenue" for public comment, according to Meyer. "We want people involved in their government," he said.

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