Cape council approves medical-marijuana zoning on 5-2 vote

A divided Cape Girardeau City Council voted Monday to allow medical-marijuana dispensaries to be as close as 500 feet from schools, day cares and churches.

The council gave initial approval to the zoning measure on a 5-2 vote with Ward 6 Councilwoman Stacy Kinder and outgoing Ward 3 Councilman Victor Gunn casting the dissenting votes.

The decision culminates months of discussion over how best to regulate medical-marijuana facilities.

Final approval is expected at the July 15 council meeting.

Under the city ordinance, dispensaries would be limited to the central business district, which includes downtown, and C-1 and C-2 commercial districts and M-1 light industrial zones.

Mayor Bob Fox said the measure also limits dispensary operations to the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Medical-marijuana cultivation, manufacturing, transportation and any state-testing facilities would be allowed no closer than 1,000 feet from schools, day cares and churches.

Cultivation facilities would be allowed only in agricultural and manufacturing zones.

Medical-marijuana transportation, testing and infused-products manufacturing would be allowed only in manufacturing zones.

Missourians legalized medical marijuana in approving a constitutional amendment last year.

Under the amendment, personal cultivation of a limited number of marijuana plants by patients and caregivers will be allowed in all zoning districts.

Medical-marijuana patients legally can grow up to six flowering marijuana plants at any given time.

Council members held a public hearing in advance of voting on the zoning ordinance, but no one spoke up.

Ward 4 Councilman Robbie Guard said he feels “comfortable” with the 500-foot buffer zone for dispensaries.

Still, he said, an online survey taken by the city showed 40% of 250 respondents preferred dispensaries be allowed as close as 200 feet from schools, day cares and churches.

Imposing a 1,000-foot buffer, the maximum allowed under the constitutional amendment, is “too intrusive,” Guard said.

But Kinder argued it is only a matter of time until voters legalize recreational marijuana. Those medical-marijuana dispensaries then will be selling recreational marijuana, she said.

Both she and Gunn wanted to impose a 1,000-foot buffer for all medical-marijuana businesses.

“I don’t think it is too cumbersome to ask people to drive five additional minutes,” Kinder said.

Guard and other council members had stated in previous meetings medical-marijuana businesses could boost the local economy and generate additional tax revenue for the city.

City attorney Eric Cunningham said under the zoning ordinance, dispensary applicants could request a variance from the 500-foot buffer from the city’s board of adjustment.

But as with any variance under the city zoning law, the adjustment board would have to find it would be a “substantial hardship” for the applicant to meet the zoning requirement in order to grant a variance, Cunningham said after the meeting.

Do you like stories about government and courts? Keep up with the latest news by signing up for our daily morning headline email. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.