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ROCHESTER — Olmsted County commissioners will continue a delayed public hearing on Monday to update the county’s zoning ordinance to include guidelines for cannabis-related businesses.
With retail businesses, as well as other related operations, set to open throughout the state on March 1, 2025, county commissioners are being asked to update the county’s zoning ordinance, which covers unincorporated areas of the county without their own zoning ordinances. Olmsted County’s jurisdiction for enforcement falls within Eyota, Marion and Quincy townships.
Cities and other townships enforce their own zoning ordinances.
The proposed county code changes address specific regulations related to cannabis businesses.
“The Planning Department has taken a conservative approach to regulating cannabis, including the determination that cannabis is a commercial agricultural product and appropriate in agricultural protection areas where more intense agricultural uses are common (such as feedlots and large growing operations), the creation of an Interim Use Permit process which will allow cannabis business to sunset at the end of a specified term, and reasonable restrictions on where cannabis can be grown and sold,” the staff report to county commissioners states.
Dave Dunn, the county’s planning director, said the use of an interim permit is new to the county code, where a conditional-use permit is typically used when specific restrictions are sought.
“When we talk about an interim use versus a conditional use, an interim use allows us to put a time limitation on that use,” he said, pointing out a business would need to seek county approval to extend the operation beyond the defined limit.
The proposed ordinance changes are an effort to abide by state cannabis requirements, while outlining restrictions on development to ensure cannabis businesses are limited to agricultural and commercial zoning districts.
When it comes to growing cannabis, Dunn said the proposed ordinance allows indoor and outdoor plantings, since the state has directed counties to treat cannabis as any other agricultural product.
County commissioners will take comments regarding the planning ordinance changes before determining whether to adopt them during their regular meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday in board chambers of the city-county Government Center.
The recommended policy updates are the latest in county actions resulting from the Minnesota Legislature’s 2023 decision to legalize the recreational use of cannabis by anyone 21 years old or older.
Last year, commissioners banned public use of cannabis in response to state action, and most recently they officially capped the number of allowed cannabis retail businesses in the county at 14.
While licensing of businesses will be governed by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, counties and other local government entities are provided some authority on how those businesses can operate, as well as some oversight of operations.
Deputy County Administrator Travis Gransee said the commissioners’ decision on Tuesday won’t be the last related to cannabis in the months before new retail businesses are allowed to open.
“We need to take this in bite-sized pieces to make sure we are addressing a number of different areas and avenues as it relates to cannabis here,” he said, pointing to other proposals expected this fall.
Meetings scheduled to be held during the week of Sept. 16 include:
Rochester
• City Council study session, 3:30 p.m. Monday in council chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE. The meeting will livestream at
www.rochestermn.gov/meetings/council-meetings
and be available on Spectrum cable channel 180 or 188.
• Fire Civil Service Commission, 3:15 p.m. Tuesday in room 104 in City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE.
• Park Board, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in room 320 in City Hall.
• Library Board, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the first floor meeting room of the Rochester Public Library, 101 Second St. SE.
• Ethical Practices Board, 10:30 a.m. Thursday in room 104 of City Hall.
Olmsted County
• Board of County Commissioners budget meeting, 8:30 a.m. Monday in the elections room, 2122 Campus Drive SE.
• Board of County Commissioners budget meeting, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in the elections room, 2122 Campus Drive SE.
• Board of County Commissioners, 6 p.m. Tuesday in the board chambers of the Government Center.
• Sheriff’s Civil Service Commission, 8 a.m. Wednesday with the location to be posted at
https://olmstedcounty.primegov.com/public/portal
“}]] A public hearing is set for Tuesday regarding proposed changes in the ordinance to include references to cannabis retail and production. Read More