WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) -- A recently passed Westerville ordinance further enshrines Ohio law by prohibiting marijuana businesses from being near a school or church.
Westerville City Council unanimously approved the measure on Feb. 4, mirroring Ohio Revised Code that says retail dispensaries cannot be located within 500 feet of a school, church, library, playground or park. The ordinance also bans a dispensary from being situated within one mile of another dispensary.
Tracking several winter storms to impact Ohio this weekThose aiming to open a Westerville dispensary will be unable to do so in the excluded areas outlined in the map below. Each pink highlight represents the 500 feet buffer around a library, church, daycare, school, park or trail.
Those aiming to open a Westerville dispensary will be unable to do so in the excluded areas outlined in this map. (Courtesy Photo/Westerville City Council)"The purpose and intent of this chapter is to provide for the regulation of marijuana activities and uses within the city of Westerville pursuant to Ohio's marijuana laws," the ordinance states. "Nothing herein is intended to prohibit or limit home grow or prohibit or restrict an activity that is authorized for an adult-use consumer."
The measure requires marijuana to be sold by a medical dispensary or a dual-use dispensary and states that "there shall be no more than two dispensaries of any kind within the city." Hours of operation for these businesses is limited to the hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., the ordinance states. However, these provisions are why some Westerville residents argue the city is implementing a "de facto" marijuana ban.
Increasing number of Ohioans falling behind on credit card payments, report saysWesterville's measure comes after voters in Ohio approved Issue 2 in November 2023 to legalize recreational marijuana. City council enacted a temporary moratorium last June prohibiting the sale of cannabis while the city reviewed possible legislative initiatives and regulations that could be implemented regarding adult use.
The ordinance is similar to a Delaware resolution that passed last year to prohibit establishments whose business "is the sale of tobacco or related products, vapor or vapor products, or cannabis" from being located within 500 feet of a school, church, library, playground or park.
Delaware's measure bans two or more of these businesses from being located within a mile of each other if they are "of the same use," meaning a vape shop can not be within a mile of another a vape shop, but a cannabis dispensary can be near a vape shop. The resolution originally limited businesses from being located within two miles of each other, but the planning commission amended the proposal out of concern it would be too restrictive.
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