A city regulation limiting the size of medical marijuana cultivation sites to no more than 3,000 square feet could soon be lifted.
The City Council voted unanimously to drop the 3,0000 square foot limit Tuesday.
Other restrictions on zones where medical marijuana can be grown and how close a site can locate near a school, church or substance abuse treatment clinic would remain in place.
Planning and Development Services Director Ernie Duarte said the zones affected by the change are located near freeways, railroad tracks and the airport.
The council decision will now go through the planning commission process and come back to the council for a final vote at an unspecified later date.
The change would allow the city’s two cultivation sites, and any future sites, to expand their output.
A local cultivation site owner told the council the city’s strict limits impairs his ability to meet local demand.
Jean-Paul Genet, who operates a site near Aviation-Barraza Parkway and Palo Verde Road, said the limits force some dispensaries to turn to places like Phoenix for medical marijuana instead of obtaining it locally. He also said it keeps prices artificially high because he can’t meet demand.
He said no one foresaw how much demand for medical marijuana would soar when the city’s ordinance was being discussed years ago.
Councilman Paul Cunningham, who along with colleague Richard Fimbres pushed for the change, said the issue boils down to economics.
“It doesn’t make sense for marijuana patients to buy the product from someplace out of town or acquire it illegally,” Cunningham said. “This meets patients needs, will go through an extensive public process and provide some economic opportunities.”
Only the cultivation site near Aviation and Palo Verde Road is up and running. The second, near Interstate 10 and Kolb Road is moving through the approval process.
The city has eight marijuana dispensaries which distribute the product.
Medical marijuana cultivation rule changes get preliminary OK
No comments:
Post a Comment