Edina Council directs staff to draft cannabis retail rules
The Edina City Council met on March 15 to chart the city's course on cannabis retail sales, directing staff to develop an ordinance that will govern where and how cannabis shops can operate once Minnesota begins issuing licenses in 2025.
Minnesota's legalization of cannabis has created a new regulatory challenge for cities like Edina. State law requires municipalities to allow cannabis retailers but gives them significant control over local rules—including how many licenses to issue, where stores can locate, and what fees to charge. The Edina City Council used its retreat meeting to provide clear direction to city staff on these key decisions.
City staff presented initial recommendations developed by a cross-departmental committee involving planning, health, administration, and other departments. Under state law, Edina could allow up to one cannabis license per 12,500 residents, but the council is considering capping licenses at five. Staff also recommended zoning rules similar to those governing tobacco and liquor stores, using the city's existing Planned Commercial District classifications (PCD1, PCD2, and PCD3). These zones range from smaller neighborhood commercial areas like Valley View and Wooddale to larger commercial districts like Southdale.
The ordinance will also address registration fees and buffer zones—distances cannabis retailers must maintain from sensitive locations like schools. City staff acknowledged the complexity of the task. "It's been an interesting thing," one staff member said. "We've had a group of staff working on it from planning to health to administration and other departments, so we've gotten input from lots of places. We're trying to make a good decision for the current time, and this is a new thing for the state, so hopefully we hit the sweet spot."
The council voted to direct staff to proceed with drafting the ordinance based on the presented recommendations. No dissenting votes were recorded. The next steps involve staff developing the full ordinance text incorporating the council's directives on license limits, zoning parameters, and other regulatory details. Edina residents can expect to see the proposed ordinance brought back to the council for further review and public input in coming months.
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▸Meeting Analysis
“it's been an interesting thing uh we've had a group of Staff working on it a small like Committee of Staff working on it from planning to health to Administration um and other departments um so we've gotten input from lots of places um and we're trying to we're trying to make a a good decision for the current time and this is a new thing for the state so um hopefully we we we hit The Sweet Spot”
▸Source Document
[Music] welcome to agenda Edina a program summarizing the actions taken at City Hall that affect you most I'm your host dorothia Marty City staff is working on an ordinance to control where cannabis is sold in Edina when the state's office of cannabis management or ocm begins issuing licenses in 2025 adults 21 and older have been allowed to use cannabis since since last August however cannabis cannot be sold in Minnesota until the ocm is able to issue licenses expected on or around January 1st 2025 municipalities are required to allow cannabis licenses issued by the state the city May adopt an ordinance covering some specific local regulations including the maximum number of licenses to be issued cost of registration and Zoning District cannabis businesses will be allowed to operate in state law also allows cities to establish buffers from schools dayc carees residential treatment facilities or attractions within a public park that are regularly used by miners including playgrounds and athletic fields at least once a year cities are required to conduct compliance checks of every cannabis and hemp business at a work session last month City staff presented its initial recommendations it's been an interesting thing uh we've had a group of Staff working on it a small like Committee of Staff working on it from planning to health to Administration um and other departments um so we've gotten input from lots of places um and we're trying to we're trying to make a a good decision for the current time and this is a new thing for the state so um hopefully we we we hit The Sweet Spot the city is required to allow one license per every 12,500 residents so Edina could limit the number to five or allow more the city council directed staff to draft the ordinance with a maximum of five a City May impose an initial retail fee of $500 or up to half the amount of the state's license fee whichever is less staff recommended charging the maximum amount for registration until the city fully understands the staff work associated with the process many cities choose to Zone cannabis retailers similar to tobacco and liquor stores any Dina those stores are permitted in the planned commercial districts or PCD examples of pcd1 zoned areas for smaller neighborhood businesses are Valley View and Wooddale 44th in France 70th in Cahill and Lincoln and London Dairy PCD too allows for more and slightly larger commercial businesses examples are Grand View and 50th in France PCD 3 allows the most and largest commercial businesses and is limited to the Southdale District to best scatter such businesses across the city the council directed staff to draft an ordinance including all three pcds the public will be invited to weigh in on the draft order during a public hearing later this year residents can provide testimony at that time online at betterto together.org by voicemail or by attending the meeting when the matter is considered
This story was created by artificial intelligence (a large language model) based on the proceedings captured in the video below.
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