“Look at alcohol. Alcohol doesn’t have buffers. Why does cannabis have to have a buffer?”
By Brianna Hill, Spotlight Delaware
Why Should Delaware Care?
As Delaware prepares to launch its marijuana industry, tensions are rising between cannabis operators and local governments. Nearly a third of the state’s municipalities have banned marijuana businesses altogether, while the counties have imposed strict distance requirements between dispensaries and places like homes and schools. Now state legislators are looking to step back into the process to force counties to be more lenient.
A new state bill is being proposed that would give marijuana operators more options to place their shops throughout Delaware but may also inflame opponents who have sought restrictions.
The bill comes as local municipalities and counties continue to debate where marijuana shops should be allowed, following the legalization of the recreational marijuana market in 2023, which is set to launch soon.
The restrictions have led to about a third of Delaware’s municipalities deciding to ban marijuana shops outright from their town limits.
Under the current state law, municipalities are allowed to ban marijuana businesses, but counties are only allowed to set restrictions on where they can operate.
The new bill, Senate Bill 75, sponsored by State Sen. Trey Paradee (D-Dover) and filed late last week, will force the state’s three counties to decrease the buffers they created between marijuana shops and sensitive areas like schools, treatment facilities and libraries down to no more than 500 feet.
Paradee said the bill is aimed at addressing concerns that marijuana shop licensees are facing in Sussex County, as more than half of its towns have opted out of having marijuana shops in their jurisdictions and the county has set the widest buffers between shops and sensitive areas at 3,000 feet.
“They effectively made marijuana illegal in Sussex County, and that’s not what the voters of the state want, and that is not what the General Assembly voted for,” Paradee said.
He said the bill will also address the frustrations of business license holders in New Castle County, where some licensees told Paradee they also cannot find eligible space to operate. The northernmost county currently has a buffer set at 1,000 feet.
Counties dismiss ‘knee-jerk reaction’
Despite the concerns of cannabis business operators, county officials say the matter should continue to be handled at the local level.
New Castle County Councilman David Carter said that the county currently has zoning spaced appropriately to accommodate all of the licenses allocated to the county and he feels that the state’s decision to propose the bills is a “knee-jerk reaction.”
“At 500 feet, it’s arbitrary and capricious,” he said.
Other county leaders like Jane Gruenebaum, 3rd district councilwoman for Sussex County, said the state has a long-standing commitment to the county controlling land use issues, which the bill would interfere with.
“I don’t think that a bill that would enable the state to take over county responsibilities for land use would get very far with the county,” she said in an interview with Spotlight Delaware.
Buffers have made industry setup difficult
Delaware’s recreational marijuana market was originally scheduled to launch this spring, but that timeline has been delayed due to ongoing regulatory setbacks.
The state’s 125 marijuana business licenses among cultivation, manufacturing, testing and retail sales were awarded to individuals late last year.
But selected licensees have yet to receive their conditional licenses and currently only have the selection notifications they received.
All licenses were split up among the three counties, and each licensee must operate in the county for which they were chosen. New Castle has 59 licenses available, Sussex has 41 while Kent only has 25.
However, finding a place to set up has been a difficult challenge for licensees, which has left operators and advocates frustrated.
“Look at alcohol. Alcohol doesn’t have buffers. Why does cannabis have to have a buffer?” questioned Jennifer Stark, Sussex resident and owner of a medical marijuana business that operates in Kent and New Castle counties.
Stark attempted to open a third location in Sussex County last year, which she said was approved by both the state and the county for a building permit. However, the county’s zoning department ultimately denied the request due to the 3,000-foot buffer requirement, which she says wasn’t even law at the time.
While Stark believes there shouldn’t be any buffer at all, she says the proposed bill would make a significant difference for business owners like her. If the legislation passes, it would allow her to open her shop—one she’s already paying for and estimates has cost her roughly $150,000 in losses so far.
The state bill will also require that medical marijuana businesses that opened before this year and were granted conversion licenses to become retail stores be allowed to continue operating in their current locations, even if local zoning laws change after the fact.
Paradee said he may work on legislation that will reduce restrictions that local municipalities have made on marijuana business, but he plans to make headway with the current legislation.
The bill now awaits scheduling for a Senate Elections & Government Affairs Committee hearing.
This story was first published by Spotlight Delaware.
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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
“Look at alcohol. Alcohol doesn’t have buffers. Why does cannabis have to have a buffer?” By Brianna Hill, Spotlight Delaware Why Should Delaware Care? As Delaware prepares to launch its marijuana industry, tensions are rising between cannabis operators and local governments. Nearly a third of the state’s municipalities have banned marijuana businesses altogether, while the Read More
