By Jake Derry.
Some residents may have seen “medical cannabis” on a CPNO zoning agenda in July and wondered what exactly that meant for the neighborhood after the zoning committee gave their recommendation to support City Council ordinance 26-O-1341 which creates a permitting process for the sale of medical cannabis.
A state law placing requirements around the location of licensed dispensaries took effect on July 1st of this year. OCGA § 16-12-215(a) requires the sale of medical cannabis live at least 1,000 feet from a school, early care program, or place of worship. The law also places requirements around the creation of medical cannabis products and places limits on the sale of medical cannabis in establishments with a liquor license. The City Council, in response to this law taking effect, through this ordinance is creating a permitting process with neighborhood feedback to operate inside the 1,000-foot boundary set by state law.
CPNO’s Zoning Committee voted unanimously in support, and the membership approved it by online ballot after the July 20th meeting. Chair Alexis von Dickmann said the case-by-case structure is what appealed to the Zoning Committee. “For me personally, the Special Use Permit process offers a mechanism to determine suitability on a case-by-case basis vs solely relying on blanket zoning or distance requirements,” she said.
For residents with concerns about whether this ordinance means that they can expect an uptick in vape shops or smoke shops, the Zoning Committee doesn’t expect that to be the case. The Special Use Permit process ensures that CPNO and NPU-N will have a say in medical cannabis shops that pop up in the neighborhood. Additionally, licensure for medical cannabis sale is required through the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, and there are currently three licensed dispensaries in all of Atlanta.
City staff, the NPUs, and the Zoning Review Board have all recommended approval. The Council’s Zoning Committee filed the ordinance, and the full Council has not yet taken a final vote.
Jake Derry was not a member of the Zoning Committee at the time of this vote but is currently a member of the CPNO Zoning Committee.