At the Wednesday, August 16 meeting at City Hall, the Apopka City Council voted 4-1 on the first of two required readings of the city code amendment that would prohibit medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits.
City Commissioner Kyle Becker was the lone “no” vote.
City staff has said that the ban is not about restricting individuals from obtaining prescription marijuana through home delivery nor preventing dispensaries from ever doing business in Apopka. Rather, staff said the ban allows the city to take back control from state legislature over regulating such facilities.
The ban also does not affect the cultivation or processing of medical marijuana in the city’s two designated grow areas, according to David Moon, city planner. Through an ordinance the city adopted in 2015, those two regions are located along parts of the Keene Road area, and in the Plymouth area, mostly west of State Road 429 and south of U.S. Highway 441.
Becker touched upon several points about medical marijuana and its impact on Apopka, ranging from potential job creation to crime statistics, so there would be no “misinformation.” The first he made was that since medical marijuana is now legal. “It shouldn’t be looked upon as nefarious, illegal or unhealthy.”
In 2016, voters approved a statewide referendum to expand the availability of medical marijuana. This year, state legislature passed new medical marijuana laws as a reaction, limiting local governments’ ability to regulate dispensaries and giving them two options: ban them altogether or treat them as pharmacies when it comes to zoning laws. The city’s current moratorium on establishing dispensaries, which has been in place for the past few months, will expire on August 31.
“It’s been determined by the voters of this state that it’s a legal product,” Becker said. “By extension, any business that transacts it is a legitimate business. And Apopka is no different. The Apopka trend for voting on Amendment 2 (in November 2016) is 70 percent, right along with the voters in Florida. So to say that Apopka doesn’t want something like this – I can’t get behind.”
After the latest state laws were passed, nearby communities like Winter Garden, Orange County, Maitland, and Winter Park have sought to ban dispensaries. Because this is the case, Apopka city staff said Apopka could become a draw for such businesses unless it also bans the dispensaries.
Several legal restrictions have been imposed on dispensaries, such as they can only be established in commercial and zoning areas, there can only be up to five per grow area in Apopka, and they must have government-approved special exception.
In 2014, Governor Rick Scott signed the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014 into law (also known as the “Charlotte’s Web” bill), allowing for the cultivation, processing and dispensing of low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis statewide, subject to local government zoning laws.
The Planning Commission voted unanimously, 4-0, on recommending the amendment at its August 8 meeting.
The City Council’s second reading and possible approval will take place on September 6 at 1:30 p.m. in City Hall.
To read more about the latest City Council meeting, pick up a copy of the Friday, August 18, edition of The Apopka Chief, available at several locations within the Apopka area.
