Brook Park, Ohio – Brook Park City Council members have instituted a six-month moratorium on cultivating medical marijuana and/or establishing medical marijuana businesses in the city. Ohio’s medical marijuana law is slated to go into effect Sept. 8.
The Brook Park legislation was introduced by Council President Jim Astorino during a special caucus meeting Tuesday evening, after which it received its first reading at the regular council meeting that immediately followed. Council suspended the second and third public readings, subsequently passing the moratorium resolution.
Broadview Heights recently instituted a 12-month medical marijuana moratorium, while Avon Lake, Lakewood and Fairview Park also have enacted moratoriums for terms of up to 6 months.
According to the resolution, Ohio’s new state law “permits patients in Ohio to use medical marijuana on the recommendation of physicians … and creates state regulatory oversight of the cultivation, processing, retail sale and use.” The state law also bans any marijuana-related establishment to be located within 500 feet of schools, churches, public libraries, playgrounds and parks.
Brook Park’s legislation notes that implementing a six-month freeze on any medical marijuana-related activities will allow city officials and commissions “additional time to undertake a review of all applicable codes statewide and within the city in order to formulate a local response” to the Ohio law. The moratorium specifically suspends the granting of building permits and certificates of occupancy for any structure, as well as change-of-use requests for any property, that would seek to engage in a medical marijuana business.
In addition, the resolution states that no existing companies in Brook Park “may expand (their businesses) in any way that would establish cultivation, processing or retail sale of medical marijuana for the duration of the moratorium.”
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Full Article: Brook Park Enacts Medical Marijuana Moratorium Before State Law Takes Effect
Author: Beth Mlady
Contact: Cleveland.com
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