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CLOQUET — As the state begins licensing cannabis businesses following the legalization of cannabis in 2023, the city must now navigate how to locally regulate the burgeoning industry.
The Cloquet City Council reviewed a proposed ordinance Tuesday regulating how cannabis businesses can operate in city limits. The ordinance may be revised in the coming weeks before being brought to a vote during the council’s July 1 meeting.
“We want to have the ability to license cannabis stores or manufacturers so that we have whatever limited capacity we have to provide restrictions; we are at least involved in that discussion,” City Administrator Tim Peterson said.
The ordinance, based on Cloquet’s existing liquor licensing process and state statute, will regulate how cannabis is cultivated and sold, as well as products using lower-potency hemp, like beverages and gummies. The ordinance will not apply to areas of Cloquet within the Fond du Lac Reservation without the consent of the band’s government.
The ordinance can also determine how many dispensaries operate within city limits. Under state statute, because Cloquet’s population exceeds 12,500, the city must allow a minimum of two cannabis dispensaries.
Though the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management is responsible for granting licenses to cannabis businesses, after being vetted and approved, businesses must register with the local government and receive a certification of zoning compliance.
On June 5, the Office of Cannabis Management held lotteries limited to social equity applicants and general applicants seeking cannabis business licenses available in limited quantities, such as cultivators and manufacturers. A second lottery for general applicants seeking a cannabis retailer license will be held July 22.
“I do like the approach that aligns a lot of the particulars of this ordinance with our liquor licensing, tobacco sales. I think that makes a lot of sense, especially with something that we haven’t done before,” Councilor Lara Wilkinson said.
In addition to
zoning laws passed last month
that limit dispensaries to operating in the city’s business district along Highway 33, the proposed ordinance could further prohibit dispensaries from operating within 1,200 feet of a school and 600 feet of churches, day care facilities, residential treatment facilities, other cannabis retail businesses, and certain park amenities.
The zoning ordinance does allow lower-potency hemp to be sold citywide.
“I think the way that this is headed is very much that anywhere where tobacco is sold or liquor is sold, that these items would also be sold.”
The new ordinance proposes limiting hours cannabis retailers can operate from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily and businesses selling low-potency hemp from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday.
“For instance, (bars are) already open until 2 a.m.,” Peterson said. “It would be very, very difficult for them, as well as for us, to check on to say, ‘Oh, it’s 10 o’clock now you can only sell alcohol and not the lower potency hemp.’”
The ordinance would allow the city to complete one unannounced inspection annually and suspend and revoke licenses for violating the ordinance. Businesses selling cannabis and low-potency hemp products without proper registration could incur a fee of up to $2,000.
“It is their responsibility to maintain their business according to all state statutes and city code,” Peterson said.
The ordinance would allow employees to sample their product at work to ensure quality control, but forbids them from directly interacting with customers for three hours after sampling. Employees cannot consume more than three samples within 24 hours. It would also largely bar the consumption of cannabis at dispensaries.
Events seeking to sell cannabis would need to obtain a temporary city registration
The city plans to follow
Carlton County’s cannabis consumption ordinance,
which prohibits consumption in public spaces.
“}]] The proposed ordinance would subject cannabis businesses to laws similar to those that regulate liquor stores. Read More
