Cannabis on City Council Agenda

First Reading on a set of ordinances are set for tonight

Troy’s City Council will meet tonight at 7:00 p.m. and will contemplate a fairly short agenda, but what the agenda lacks in length, it certainly will make up for in consequence.

The agenda tonight will include a set of three ordinances that will set the city’s policy on recreational and medical cannabis moving forward. The three ordinances are shown from this screenshot from tonight’s agenda below:

Of the three ordinances, the last one is the least controversial. Earlier, this fall, the city’s Planning Commission recommended allowing adult-use cannabis testing laboratories in the city’s M-3, Heavy Industrial Zoning District. In the deliberation, city staff stated that state law does not permit the city to outright prohibit these laboratories and some accommodation needed to be made to allow them to operate.

The Planning Commission’s recommendation had been discussed by City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee, and the group unanimously agreed with the commission’s recommendation. The committee has already recommended that the full council approve the ordinance.

The remaining ordinances are a bit more contentious. After a series of meetings of both the Planning Commission and the Community and Economic Development Committee, there was a clear lack of consensus on how to move forward. The Planning Commission, in a series of short meeting, that featured no public comment, recommended to the city council that there be a complete ban on recreational cannabis in the community.

The Community and Economic Development Committee took a more nuanced approach. While one member of the committee believed a complete ban on adult-use cannabis is the best approach for the community, a majority of the committee was willing to recommend to the council that one dispensary be allowed in the B-4, Highway Business District.

Tonight could be the first vote that council will hold on the issue. Since the ordinances are scheduled for their first reading, it is entirely possible that council could push the two ordinances to a full three hearings, which means that a final vote may not be taken until January 21st.

However, the City Council, as their customary practice, could waive the three-reading rule and hold a vote tonight. Seven of the nine members of council would need to agree to waive the three-reading rule.

Residents wishing to speak on the issue, will be offered an opportunity to speak for two-minutes to council before any votes on the measure are cast.

The final meeting of the year of the Troy City Council could certainly be one of the year’s most consequential.

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