Del. lawmaker introduces bill to reduce local restrictions on retail pot stores

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This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Legislation to ease local government zoning restrictions on recreational cannabis facilities is dividing marijuana advocates while drawing the ire of some county council members.

“The state has to step in and tell the counties that they are unduly restricting these businesses tighter than they would an alcohol business,” said Patrick Galloway, founder of White Cap Cannabis in Sussex County. “In multiple states, you can’t zone it out of existence. That’s essentially what Sussex County, New Castle [County and] multiple municipalities have done.”

Lawmakers legalized recreational cannabis in 2023, creating a system for licensing cultivators, manufacturers, retailers and testing laboratories. The state also created a pool of social equity licenses where people who have been negatively affected by past marijuana crime enforcement could enter the market with lower barriers to access.

The state conducted a lottery system that awarded 125 adult-use recreational market licenses, with 30 retail stores planned throughout the state — 14 in New Castle County, 10 in Sussex County and six in Kent County. Seven conversion licenses were given to medical dispensaries so they could sell both medical and recreational cannabis out of their existing facilities. The cost of those licenses range from $100,000 to $200,000.

Legislation to regulate local control of retail cannabis stores

Under the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Trey Paradee, D-Dover, state zoning rules would supersede current county and city ordinances. It would require local governments to allow medical marijuana dispensaries who were granted conversion licenses to also sell recreational pot as a retail store and make building improvements to do both as necessary.

Retail weed stores in commercial- or industrial-zoned areas would be allowed as long as they are not within a half-mile of another recreational cannabis store and within 500 feet of a church, school, day care, residential substance abuse treatment facility, park or library. Fully enclosed cultivation facilities must be allowed in areas zoned for agricultural or industrial use.

Paradee’s bill would also require that each of the three counties allow retail marijuana stores to be open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon until 8 p.m. on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, especially in the case of Sussex County, they use their zoning ordinances to effectively make the sale of marijuana illegal in Sussex County,” Paradee said.

Counties’ response to the legislation

Currently, retail pot stores in Sussex County can only be in the C-3 zoning district, which is reserved for heavy commercial uses and only encompasses 0.2 square miles of Sussex’s about 900 square miles of unincorporated land. A location can’t be within 3 miles of any municipality, church, school or substance abuse treatment center.

Chip Guy, Sussex County spokesperson, declined to comment on Paradee’s characterization of its ordinance regulating recreational cannabis establishments. He also said the county council was withholding comment on the legislation because it had not fully reviewed it.

Sussex County Councilmember Jane Gruenebaum was elected last year and did not vote on its retail marijuana zoning restrictions. She said she believes zoning is a local control issue that shouldn’t be preempted by the state.

“I think historically, the county has been very protective of its ability to manage land use decisions, through zoning and its ordinances,” she said. “I don’t see that changing. And so I think if the state makes any effort to try and change that, I think there will be some considerable resistance from the county.”

New County Castle Councilman Dave Carter called Paradee’s bill “stupid” and “reactionary.” New Castle County’s ordinance requires retail weed stores locate a minimum of 1,000 feet from substance abuse treatment centers, schools, day cares, colleges, churches, parks, government offices and libraries.

Carter said the 500-foot zoning requirement is an arbitrary number, which doesn’t reflect the well-researched compromise produced by the county.

“If I had my way, I’d say, let’s let the county and the state go to court,” he said. “At this point, I think [the state] should stay out of it, but if they don’t, then we’ll let the courts decide.”

The town of Middletown in southern New Castle County has implemented a complete ban on marijuana businesses. The city of Dover only allows retail stores in the Highway Commercial zoning district along U.S. 13 and Bay Road. The Wilmington City Council recently voted to pause issuing business licenses to retail facilities for the next 90 days.

Continued market delays

James Brobyn, president of the Delaware Cannabis Industry Association and a conversion license holder, said he’s concerned that further delays in opening the legal market is allowing illegal sales to flourish.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Marijuana Commissioner told WHYY News earlier this month that its application for fingerprinting authorization was pending final approval from the FBI. However, the FBI said in an emailed statement to WHYY News that the application, which was submitted in October 2024, was denied in December because “it did not qualify pursuant to federal law.” The office submitted a request to the FBI for a re-review last week.

The OMC did not respond to questions WHYY News submitted multiple times to its office. It did not respond to a specific request for comment about Paradee’s bill, but its spokesperson said in an emailed statement that it will carry out laws passed by the General Assembly.

Brobyn said he just wants the recreational cannabis industry to start in Delaware.

“The state needs to set a date for the recreational market, that’ll solve most of the problems,” he said. “Frankly, if they set a date, it’s going to force everyone to actually get off their butt and do the work to get the market open right now.”

Zoë Patchell, who heads the nonprofit Delaware Cannabis Advocacy Network, said she’s concerned about possible disparate impacts of Paradee’s bill.

Patchell said her organization supports eliminating local “de facto bans,” but argues the legislation favors medical cannabis dispensaries while leaving new businesses with higher regulatory burdens.

“Zoning restrictions should be the same for all cannabis businesses, both new and existing,” she said. “The zoning for cannabis businesses should not be more restrictive than the zoning for alcohol businesses.”

Paradee said grandfathering in medical dispensaries so they can use their conversion licenses is “the right thing to do.”

“They have been great neighbors, great partners of the state,” he said. “They generate revenue for the state, and all of them have paid a lot of money to get the conversion license so that they can sell both the medical as well as the recreational, and they are essentially being told that they will not be able to operate as recreational because they don’t meet the county zoning ordinances.”