Will Cannabis Legislation be passed by City Council on Monday?

Two absences require unanimous agreement on new cannabis ordinance

On December 18th, the Troy City Council met as a Committee of the Whole to decide what direction the city would to take with two pending ordinances dealing with cannabis regulations. Each proposed ordinance would allow for one medical and one recreational dispensary in the city’s B-4, Highway Business District. You can read more about that particular meeting below:

In the end, a majority of the committee made the decision to outright ban cannabis operations in the community. However, the decision was not unanimous. In the Committee of the Whole report, Council Members Schilling and Whidden, both recommend that the council permit one dispensary in the B-4 zoning district.

Why does this matter? Well, there is a small technicality at play on Monday’s meeting. Ordinance O-1-2025 is on the agenda and that piece of legislation will enact what the majority of the Committee of the Whole requested, a total ban on cannabis dispensaries, cultivators and operators in the city.

But, before the ordinance can be brought up for a vote to adopt the measure, the ordinance must first pass a vote waiving the three-reading rule. Under Ohio law, each ordinance and resolution must be read (basically, meaning it must be on a council meeting agenda) three times before it can be decided. However, there is a provision in the law that allows that three-reading rule to be waived, if seven of the nine members of council agree.

99 times out of 100, council members agree to waive the three reading rule. Monday might be different. Given that two members will be absent, all members of council must agree to waive the three-reading rule and since the two members of council who indicated that they would support cannabis in the community will be at the meeting, there is an open question on whether the ordinance implementing the cannabis ban will receive the votes necessary to waive the three-reading rule, thus delaying the passage of the ordinance to a future meeting.

Additionally, City Council is expected to adopt a resolution allowing surplus property to be advertised for bid on internet auction sites and also adopt a resolution to enter into an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation for the future paving of West Market Street from Grant Street to Horizon Court West. Two ordinances allowing for cannabis dispensaries are expected to be postponed indefiinitely.

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