Troy City Council Hears From the Public

A Public Hearing Garners Public Input

Last week, this publication talked about how the Troy City Council was holding a public hearing to help guide the council’s decision on whether cannabis operations should be allowed within the city.

Residents Share Their Thoughts

Residents showed up to the public hearing, and there was no clear consensus on the public’s desire for cannabis operations within the community. After reviewing the video of the meeting, fourteen citizens spoke up; seven spoke in favor of cannabis operations, seven spoke against such establishments.

At Saturday’s public roundtable discussion between the city’s At-Large council members and the public, it was reported that 29 email comments have been received. 16 were not in favor of such operations, 10 were in favor, and 3 were from outside the community.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the clear majority of the comments made by individuals on both sides of the issue were largely around the vices and virtues around marijuana. There was plenty of discussion about how cannabis is a drug with negative side effects of individuals and their families. There was also discussion about how marijuana can be better controlled and monitored as a substance through the regulations put forward by the state. But very few comments specifically talked about having a cannabis operation in the community, which was the entire purpose of the public hearing.

A Decision Has Not Been Made….Yet

It is important to recognize that the Public Hearing stage is the beginning of City Council’s decision-making process. Such public hearings are designed to do just that, hear public comments. These meetings rarely have any open discussion between residents and the council, or the council members themselves. This is simply an opportunity for residents to put their comments on the record.

The framework of what the City Council will decide may come next week as it was announced that the council’s Community and Economic Development Committee will meet next Wednesday, November 13th at 6:00 p.m. The plan is for the committee to make a recommendation to council on not only whether cannabis operations will be allowed in the community, but if they are allowed, what other conditions could be put in place to further regulate these operations.

This committee will hold a public meeting and will no doubt have an opportunity for additional public comment as the committee helps create a recommendation for the entire City Council to deliberate.

The Fault in a Binary Choice

The public hearing featured many comments that were provided in a clear and civil manner. Everyone that participated should be thanked for not only speaking their thoughts, but to also sharing those ideas in a way that should make our community proud.

However, I was personally frustrated that this discussion is being framed as a simple binary choice, either cannabis operations should be allowed or not. Yet, there are opportunities for leadership to come through and provide a bit of a compromise that could be seen as acceptable to both sides of this issue.

Perhaps it’s important to be clear on the things the community does not. I do not believe anyone would truly want a cannabis operation in our downtown area. There were plenty of comments that stated that cannabis is a huge threat for our community’s youngest residents.

Having a downtown cannabis operation within walking distance of schools and downtown activities, such as the Troy Rec and the Lincoln Community Center, would not be helpful. Even though we have plenty of alcohol establishments and our Downtown Outdoor Refreshment Area, that promotes open consumption of such beverages downtown, cannabis operations may very well have a negative impact on our downtown. Furthermore, ask anyone in mental health and substance abuse, alcohol tends to be more problematic and damaging than cannabis.

An Opportunity for Leadership to Rise

So, what can our community’s leadership do?

Perhaps the Community and Economic Development Committee would be well served to limit the number of cannabis operations and restrict them to areas of town that are not easily accessible for our young people. For example, allowing one cannabis operation in the M-2 Light Industrial District or B-4 Highway Service Business District, still allows for cannabis operations to be in the community while keeping these businesses out of our neighborhoods and our downtown. Ultimately, it will be up to the private sector to see if the market would support such a business.

On the face, it seems like a legitimate compromise that respects of the will of the city’s voters (let’s not forget that Ohio’s State Issue 2 passed by a 52% to 48% within the community) and provides an opportunity for the city to earn excise tax revenue as well. For those that are against a cannabis operation to protect the city’s youth, having an operation in a place that is not easy for youth to access may be acceptable.

It may be beneficial for the community to look at what recently happened in Marysville; a central Ohio community that recently went through a similar decision, where the city council there decided not to bad cannabis operations. You can learn more about some of the thoughts and ideas of the Marysville City Council from the Marysville Matters substack:

Feds investigate Marysville schools cyber incident; Council rejects retail marijuana ban; 4% raise proposed for city workers

There are clear opportunity for leadership to shine on this issue. Let’s see if that will happen.

What Do You Think?

Do you believe that the cannabis operation is a simple binary choice? Is there an opportunity for a compromise? Our paid subscribers are more than welcome to leave their ideas and insights in the comment thread!

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