Delaware Governor Weighs ‘Competing Priorities’ As Marijuana Zoning Bill Sits On His Desk

As Delaware prepares for the launch of legal marijuana sales to adults next
month, the state’s governor is weighing a bill that would overrule local
zoning authority and make it easier for cannabis businesses to set up shop.

Gov. Matt Meyer (D) told reporters this week that there’s a tension between
two competing priorities when it comes to the marijuana-related zoning
proposal, SB 75.

On one hand, the governor said he’d like to roll out the state’s legal
cannabis program as quickly as possible. On the other, as a former county
executive, he said it’s important municipal governments retain control over
local land use decisions.

“We’re talking to stakeholders to evaluate,” he told Delaware Public Media
(DPM). “I’ve been very clear as someone who led the largest local
government in Delaware for eight years that we believe strongly in local
control, local government control.”

“I’ve also been unambiguous,” the governor added: “I’ve been very clear
that we have recreational marijuana that has taken too long to get off the
ground… So those are two competing priorities.”

Meyer could sign the bill into law, veto it or allow it to become law
without his signature. Notably in 2023, then-Gov. John Carney (D) let HB 1
and HB 2—which legalized and regulated adult-use cannabis in Delaware—to
become law without his signature.

Asked by DMP whether he might take a similar approach with SB 75, Carney
replied: “It’s always an option.”

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Trey Paradee (D), who also backed the state’s
legalization legislation. If it becomes law, the measure would set state
zoning standards for cannabis facilities, overriding rules set by
Delaware’s three counties. Proponents say the change is necessary to
prevent local bans from limiting consumer access to legal marijuana.

In Sussex County, for example, local zoning rules require cannabis sites to
be at least three miles from any church, school or drug treatment center.
Paradee’s bill would reduce that buffer to 500 feet and specify that
marijuana facilities could be no closer than a half mile from one another.

The governor told DPM he sympathizes with county officials who say SB 75
erodes local autonomy. “I think local government plays a critical role in
local land use,” he said. “They are the premier place to determine whether
something is appropriate for zoning and permitting in an area, and I think
they should retain that control.”

In Newcastle County, Councilmember Janet Kilpatrick said the state should
either let local officials be in charge of land use or take over zoning
issues itself—not pick individual industries to wrest control over. She
noted that Newcastle County made buffers for cannabis facilities the same
as what applies to liquor stores.

“We either do land use or we don’t do land use,” she told local public news
outlet WHYY. “If the state wants to take it over, they need to take over
the whole process, which includes people that come and want a variance,
because they’re not quite at that 500 feet. Either that or it stays with us
and we look at it as 1,000 feet.”

While only about a dozen stores are expected to be operational as
Delaware’s retail market launches next month, eventually 30 are planned
across the state, WHYY reports, including 14 in New Castle County, 10 in
Sussex County and six in Kent County.

Retail sales of adult-use cannabis are set to begin in Delaware on August
1, with at least 13 stores expected to be ready for opening day. All seven
of the state’s existing medical marijuana operators have converted to also
offer adult-use products.

Meyer was separately asked during a radio appearance on WDEL this week why
the rollout of the state’s legal market has taken so long—and also why the
state allowed existing medical providers to go “up in the front of the
line” and start sales before new adult-use licensees.

Meyer replied that either the state could “delay further” the market
opening or “move forward with medical marijuana retailers who are readily
able to open, to turn the lights on.”

Separately in Delaware this week, two lawmakers who led the push to
legalize marijuana are seeking input from consumers and businesses ahead of
the market launch. Paradee, the sponsor of SB 75, and House Majority Whip
Rep. Ed Osienski (D)—the primary sponsor of the state’s 2023 legalization
bills—put out a new online form for residents to share thoughts and
feedback about the cannabis program anonymously.

The idea is to identify any hiccups that lawmakers might need to address
when they return for next year’s legislative session.

The state’s Office of the Marijuana Commissioner (OCM) initially projected
that recreational sales would start by March, but complications related to
securing an FBI fingerprint background check service code delayed the
implementation. Lawmakers passed a bill in April to resolve the issue, and
the FBI subsequently issued the code that the stat’s marijuana law requires.

Late last year, OMC held a series of licensing lotteries for cannabis
business to start serving adult consumers.

A total of 125 licenses will ultimately be issued, including 30 retailers,
60 cultivators, 30 manufacturers and five testing labs. Last year,
regulators also detailed what portion of each category is reserved for
social equity applicants, microbusinesses and general open licenses.

Regulators have also been rolling out a series of proposed regulations to
stand up the forthcoming adult-use cannabis industry.

Meanwhile, Carney raised eyebrows in January after making a questionable
claim that “nobody” wants cannabis shops in their neighborhoods, even if
there’s consensus that criminalization doesn’t work.

The then-governor last year signed several additional marijuana bills into
law, including measures that would allow existing medical cannabis
businesses in the state to begin recreational sales on an expedited basis,
transfer regulatory authority for the medical program and make technical
changes to marijuana statutes.

The dual licensing legislation is meant to allow recreational sales to
begin months earlier than planned, though critics say the legislation would
give an unfair market advantage to larger, more dominant businesses already
operating in multiple states.

In October, Carney also gave final approval to legislation to enact
state-level protections for banks that provide services to licensed
marijuana businesses.

Delaware’s medical marijuana program is also being significantly expanded under
a law that officially took effect last July.

The policy change removes limitations for patient eligibility based on a
specific set of qualifying health conditions. Instead, doctors will be able
to issue cannabis recommendations for any condition they see fit.

The law also allows patients over the age of 65 to self-certify for medical
cannabis access without the need for a doctor’s recommendation.

*Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.*

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Zoning Bill Sits On His Desk appeared first on Marijuana Moment.