good evening and welcome to the maple plane city council special meeting it is July 22nd at 8:00 p.m. calling the meeting to order with that I'm looking for a motion to approve tonight's agenda move by DeLuca second second by Francis any further discussion all right all hearing none all in favor sing the I I oppose same sign okay motion carries by to Z um I will turn it over to staff um first before we open the public hearing excuse me thank you Madame mayor members of the council uh before you tonight is a public hearing for ordinance 328 it is an interim ordinance or authorizing a study and imposing a moratorium on the operation of cannabis business within the city of Maple plane um this stems from the legislator pass legislature passing a law and as of July 1st of this year that allows uh applicants uh special um social Equity applicants to apply uh for cultivation businesses um this originally was not supposed to happen until the 1st of January 2025 um we as staff legal planning uh and law enforcement had intended on bringing this up in October as it got closer to the end of the year excuse me uh just because office of cannabis management was supposed to come out with u model ordinances that we were going to be able to use um that addressed all these issues um but here we are again legislature have changed things and we have now until August 1st um to have things in place um because this goes in effect uh the applicants can be approved to start their businesses as of August 1st of this year um yeah I think I covered everything uh so basically this moratorium would be uh placed on cannabis businesses within the city of Maple plane it would not stop the low potency sale of uh cannabis uh Edibles that we currently have so the businesses that are selling that stuff would not have to stop that they would continue to sell the purpose of this is to stop uh a business from starting to cultivate marijuana because we haven't looked at you know what zoning areas it should affect you know should it be a th you know our limitations are 1,000 F feet away from a school 500 ft away from Parks and churches um so we need to look at that that uh with planning and kind of figure out where those businesses um would be most appropriate in the city of Maple plane um if we do not enact this ordinance um if someone is approved for a cultivation uh license August 1st they can pick where they would like to go and we would not be able to stop them at that point um we do not have the option of stopping cultivation Manufacturing in the city of Maple plane it's just the zoning aspect of it that we can decide Chief cars do you have anything else to add to that honorable mayor and council members no I think uh uh City administrator caller did a nice overview of it I think uh you know with this new change on on July 1st and then August 1st um the office of can cannabis management obviously you if you've been paying attention know that they had a director for a couple days and then they didn't have a director and they're kind of just creating the the rules and regulations and they go and we were going to bring this you know later on this fall but uh there is some concern on my part for uh for Planning and Zoning of your city uh where if somebody was to come in and do some cultivation where would the locations be that you would want that within your city is it 500 ft from dayc carees 500 ft from schools or it is a th000 feet and those discussions just haven't been had by you or staff uh in regards to zoning um and I think this just gives us a a f Monon time frame by having a moratorium to develop that and find where the appropriate place is cuz as administrator coer said we cannot stop it and I think originally most people would be like well who cares about cultivation you know there's no place to get a tractor and a plow and start cultivating cultivation is typically indoors it isn't an outdoor activity it's large warehouses lots of lights and that's the type of cultivation that that we're talking about we're not talking about you know rows of corn or marijuana or beans out in in the country like people think we're very cold here in Minnesota and that stuff doesn't survive so it would be an indoor year round operation so all right thank you staff for those um clarifications and with that I'm looking for a motion to open the public hearing regarding regarding ordinance 328 I'll make that motion motion by council member Fay second second by council member Francis to open the public hearing regarding ordinance number 328 if there's anyone here tonight to speak um regarding the public hearing ordinance 328 please come forward to the podium if there's anyone that would like to speak tonight regarding the the public hearing ordinance number 328 please come forward and the third time if there's anyone who'd like to speak regarding the public hearing ordinance number 328 please come forward all right seeing no one would like to come forward to speak I'm looking for a motion to close the public hearing so moved moved by council member Francis second second by council member bureck um all in favor of closing the public hearing please signify by saying I I I I post same sign the public hearing is closed at 808 at this time we will move into to discussion um amongst Council anyone like to speak regarding this ordinance just to clarify you say we can't stop it because there is a law that says it's starting but we can temporarily halt it by the moratorium that is correct until January 1st 2025 thank you for that clarification any other questions further clarifications you had indicated that there would be some study that would be done what is the study that staff is proposing um the study is is basically us putting our heads together and talking with planning and zoning and figuring out where this business would best fit within the city of Maple plane according to our zoning ordinances okay and and does this emanate out of the law that was passed in 23 which the ability to grow this substance does it come out of that law from 23 or this out of the 24 legislative session my understanding it's was the 20 three right did they allow cultivation from that one well it was passed in the legalization of marijuana obviously was passed in 23 but they didn't know what the rules and the regulations were going to be on manufacturing and cultivation of it so now in 2024 they kind of established that there can be cultivation and I was under the impression and looking at the 23 law that they were going to only going pick like three three companies throughout the state that were going to do it um I believe that they're actually opening it up a little bit more to other people to particip other than three larger companies in the state and that more companies can manufacture their own if they can find the appropriate places within a community whether it's rent or business so I think it's kind of a combination of both but I think they're figuring it out as they go what I'm trying to understand here is at what point did staff know that we had a law that was passed in 23 and here we are sitting in July of 24 and we're saying we haven't prepared and gotten anything done I've watched neighboring cities that have figured this out Mound has already figured out what they're doing with this they're not doing a moratorium they figured out what zoning how did we get so far behind I wouldn't necessarily calling it being behind I would call it being cautious um even the first time that the the legislators passed this cities were left to their own devices to figure out how to manage um and we're just kind of holding out hoping that they're going to get their stuff together and provide us guidance um and now we've got this all of a sudden July 1st the cultivation is legal and they're going to start issuing applications as of August 1st it's like oh well now again here we are with no guidance and now we need to figure it out for ourself and I appreciate that I think a city um our size a police department our size we don't need to create the wheel I mean we can learn from others and model after those and adapt and adjust those and I I would hate to rush something through and then have something end up too close to a park or a school or someplace that later we would regret so I would rather move slowly and cautiously um so um I appreciate this time to do that any other discussion or I have one question counc member um so the moratorium is for canas cultivation and the size of maple plane and Commercial zoning how much space do we really have in the city that would even be feasible to use you know cuz obviously like Gary said it's going to be a fairly large operation um you know some little guy in a little tiny back room it's just a little tiny business but big operations going to be big that's that's the concern and understand that but how much space do we have well but you had mentioned there might be three major players but if you read the language behind the social Equity application there could be a bunch of small players that that that might only need the space next to iron exchange to do it in but if zoning doesn't allow it to be in the Gateway district for example then it's not going to happen in that leasable space next to iron exchange so it it it's going to happen if I mean we can't not zone for it correct I mean we we it's the law we just need to figure out where it is the least injurious to the community and I think you know we did this with the with the the Edibles you know that came up on us rather quick we said time out let's think this through we put it together I do not believe it's been an issue Public Safety wise correct no you only if I remember right you we did not want to do a moratorium and anybody who held a current tobacco license was allowed to continue the sales and and that made sense right and uh now the next step is the what we're talking about is you know where can where do you as a council want cultivation of marijuana that is now going to be legal August 1st within your city right and and uh to your point are we late to it I think we were unknown on when exactly it was going to happen and when and where it was going to happen so now we're trying to figure out what your requests are and where do you want it do you want it down in the industrial park do you want it over on Industrial Street down by let's say bergenson Caswell ABC and then how does that fit with in your parks within your churches within your schools and if you remember I know it's a bad analogy but you know we talked about you know where can sex offenders live within our community right when they reside and we went through this many feet and that many feet and we had to have somewhere that they could live they just couldn't be by schools by daycares by other things it's very similar to that is how do we Zone it where you want it and which makes sense and that takes time and it's been moving from the state it's yeah we've all been watching the state and that's been a mess I think you were polite in saying the office of cannabis management seems rather rudderless we're just trying to make the proper course correction correct administrator cander thank you madam mayor members of the council one thing I do want to point out you know so we talk about uh the you know do we want this Gateway Boulevard District um that specifically will not be an option that we have the only option that we will have is uh we can limit it within 1,000 ft of a school 500 ft of a daycare Residential Treatment Facility or any attraction with public park that is regularly used by miners including playgrounds or athletic fields so the study portion of it which you're asking where can it go is we need to sit down with the map and start okay we got a playground here we got a a church here we got a daycare draw the circle around of how many feet to figure out okay it can go here and it can go here and it can go here that's it that's what we need time to study and figure out I know this will happen but could it be in a residential home currently as of August 1st it could be yeah if they build a shed or put it in their house cuz you don't have any zing that says it as long as it's tht away from a that that's up to you to decide right so I'm I'm going to offer a point of clarification on this so as far as being in a home no in a home you can grow four mature plants and four non-mature plants what about like a shed on their but you cannot have a cultivation business license on your personal property because has to be inspected there are requirements for um orders um exhaust is the word that's coming to my mind but this the right word if they had the inspection p no okay there's lots of requirements for the cultivation business license that would be very unlikely that it would ever happen in a home do we have any similar legal products use tobacco as an example it's a legal product just like cannabis today is a legal product we have any controls of where tobacco can be grown cultivated using this word I don't believe so it's never it's not grown in Minnesota obviously we all know that so yeah not that I'm aware of we had a similar discussion to this when we were talking about the moratorium for the sale and the conclusion this group came to at that point was right wrong good or bad the state legislature the people we elected to sit in those chairs decided that that product was going to be a legal product who were we to say that we weren't going to have that happen it wasn't our right as a city council to do do that and I'm beginning to wonder if the same argument applies to where this is cultivated they've said it can be cultivated in the state of Minnesota but I would argue it's our job and as a small City I don't ever want to give up local control when I don't have to whatever the issue is if we have an opportunity to make decisions for our residents based on Maple plane versus the state telling me to do something I will take Maple plane any day because we are the people we live here we represent this community and so Mike I think growing tobacco because it's done so commercially is probably not a good example I would go back to the time and effort this Council and planning and legal put into the Manu uh uh beer uh manufacturing beer cap house and things of that nature we we put extensive effort into determining where beer because of all the Brew PBS so that's the kind of model that this is probably is closer to resembling there's there's just there's not a there's not a stigma that goes along with beer there seems to be a stigma that goes along with Po and so yeah and and don't get me wrong I'm not advocating for that I'm simply asking the question because I think we ought to be asking the question at this point and if staff needs a few months to bring something more responsible back to the five of us so be it I the mechanism for that is a moratorium put a few months to to hold on it I'm disappointed we're here because I do think I see the path that got here but we've had 14 15 months knowing this was coming we are here I get it no I didn't think so no it might I I I'm going to respectfully disagree on that and I think staff has done the best they can and we have legal planning and administration all on the same page and I would rather move cautiously um I would only say how did other cities figure this out already and we haven't but not all did there are many around us that have already done the moratorium just because mounded there's others that haven't and I don't want to miss speak for any of them tonight but I know I've been reading about them other discussion so then the item on the table is um ordinance number 328 um an interm ordinance authorizing a study and imposing a moratorium on the operation of a cannabis business within the city of Maple plane I'll make the motion to move forward with ordinance number 328 motion ordinance number 328 by council member Fay second second by council member Francis any further discussion or questions hearing none does this need to be a roll call vote no okay hearing none all in favor of um ordinance number 328 please signify by saying I I I oppose same sign I motion carries four to one all right thank you everyone for the good discussion on that um are there any city council reports and other business to come before us tonight okay hearing none then I'm looking for a motion to adjourn so moved moved by Francis second by DeLuca all in favor signifi by say I I I post I have at 5 to Z the meeting's adjourned at 8:23