Sara Stadem | Editor
During their regular meeting, the Crooks City Council had their second reading on Ordinance #283, Licensing Regulations for Medical Cannabis Dispensary Businesses. The Ordinance was written up by City Attorney Patrick Glover.
It was determined to pass the Ordinance the same as the first reading which was determined to allow one license within the city of Crooks. The annual fee was set at $5,000 to receive a license and it was also determined if an applicant was denied a license, the applicant would only receive half ($2,500) for a refund.
Mayor Butch Oseby said, “The thinking is that the bigger towns will have the dispensary that people will want to go to first but you never know, someone might want to go to a smaller town instead.”
He also explained there will be a lot of due diligence that goes into this before approving someone for a license is granted in Crooks.
The next step for the city of Crooks is to have a combined meet with the Planning and Zoning Commission in order to decide where it will be allowed and how many feet from schools, etc. This meeting will take place on September 27.
The Hartford City Council had their second reading of Ordinance #714, Amend Zoning Regulations for Cannabis Regulation and Ordinance #715, Set Licensing Provisions for Cannabis Regulation during their regular city council meeting.
Ordinance #714 was passed during the first reading indicating that a dispensary would be 1,000 feet from any schools but would not have any distance limitations from daycares or other dispensaries. It was clarified that during the first reading the drive through was changed so that drive through would be allowed for medical purposes, not recreational if that gets passed in the future. Throughout the discussion, there were no other changes made to the Ordinance. Motion was approved and passed second reading.
Next the city council had their second reading on Ordinance #715. The largest change during the first reading was the dollar amount for the annual fee which was set at $10,000. It was also determined if someone applied for a license and was not approved, the applicant would only be reimbursed half of the fee ($5,000). It was agreed upon during the first reading to allow three licenses in Hartford. After discussion and hearing from community member BJ Olsen, the Ordinance remained with three licenses in Hartford. The motion was approved and passed the second reading.