Beavercreek City Council voted down an ordinance banning recreational marijuana sales within city limits on Monday.
That means the only dispensary in Beavercreek can continue to sell recreational products.
Beavercreek city council rejected the ban by a vote of four to three.
Council members Joanna Garcia and Glen Duer dissented. They expressed concerns about wanting to maintain local authority.
“The state often will stipulate to us what we have to do. And in general, I think municipalities across Ohio are opposed to that overstepping of jurisdiction,” Duer said.
Many city council members voiced surprise that there were no public comments or testimonials during the meeting in regards to the ordinance.
Garcia also addressed comments about the impact on the community immediately surrounding the store front.
“That is an almost fully residential area,” she said. “And I was on council when this first came up, and that was our biggest concern at that time.”
Gregory May attended the meeting as a representative from Trulieve, which operates a dispensary in Beavercreek. He said there have been no negative testimonials in regards to the dispensary and Beavercreek police have reported no incidents since the store opened.
“What’s important is, as the counsel pointed out this evening, the neighborhoods around the dispensary actually voted for Issue 2,” he said. “So I think that says a lot about the trust and the sense of safety that they have.”
May said he gives credit to the Beavercreek City Council for its deliberations and attention to the community’s needs.
“They really did a thorough job of considering this issue,” he said. “They took weeks to consider, this wasn’t something that they moved quickly on and they really did want to get public feedback. I think they got it loud and clear.
Other council members say they are looking forward to the financial benefit of having a dispensary in the city.
“I’m hypothetically saying that if we get 10 cents on the dollar, or whatever it is, we could get a couple hundred thousand dollars a year into our general fund,” said Vice Mayor Pete Bales. “That would make a huge dent. It would relieve the burden of our property tax payers.”
According to May, Beavercreek has already started to see a portion of the state tax on adult use sales. That offers 3.6% of every dollar made.
The city council voted four to three to keep sales of recreational marijuana at the only dispensary within its city limits. Read More