Sussex County may create new marijuana business law
Following Gov. Matt Meyer’s Aug. 28 veto of a state bill to limit Sussex County’s ability to control marijuana shops, Sussex County Council next week will consider setting new rules to regulate for such businesses.
The county last year created a law that, in effect, ruled out any locations for marijuana-related businesses. That prompted the legislature to pass Senate Bill 75 to override the county’s action.
Meyer reached a compromise to allow the county authority to amend its marijuana regulations, which would require a public hearing before a county council vote.
“The revisions illustrate a specific set of policies that will move our state beyond the concerns that gave rise to Senate Bill 75,” Meyer wrote in an Aug. 28 veto letter to the General Assembly.
The agenda for the Tuesday, Sept. 9 county council meeting includes discussion and possible introduction of Ordinance No. 3016 – Regulating Marijuana Establishments, which would amend the county charter.
Council President Doug Hudson could not be reached for comment Sept. 3.
The state legislature approved a bill July 5, 2023, to authorize, among other things, creation of the State Office of the Marijuana Commissioner, which has the authority to issue a total of 125 statewide open, microbusiness and social equity licenses for the cultivation and/or sale of marijuana. It also authorized creation of rules and regulations for the cultivation, distribution and sale of marijuana.
At the time, there was already a medical marijuana industry in the state serving about 17,000 patients.
The open, microbusiness and social equity licenses authorized by the state include 60 for marijuana cultivation facilities, 30 for marijuana product manufacturing facilities, 30 for retail marijuana stores and five for marijuana testing facilities.
State law allows municipalities in Sussex County to prohibit such facilities, but not all have done so. The county itself was not allowed to prohibit facilities.
Attached to Meyer’s veto, which was sent to the General Assembly, was a copy of Sussex County’s ordinance with potential revisions noted.
While Sussex County is not allowed to prohibit marijuana businesses, it may enact laws that regulate the time, place, manner and number of those businesses.
“It is the intention of Sussex County to permit marijuana establishments in an appropriate zoning district, with reasonable requirements concerning the proximity to schools, churches, substance abuse treatment facilities and other marijuana establishments,” according to the draft county ordinance.
The original county law barred the opening of marijuana retail stores within three miles of a municipal boundary, any other retail marijuana store, church, school, college or substance abuse treatment facility. The county will consider reducing those distances and allowing retail sales in more zones.
The vetoed state bill would have prohibited retail marijuana stores within a half-mile of each other, and within 500 feet of a school, licensed child care, residential treatment facility, park or library, and place of worship outside a commercial or industrial zone.
Any licensed marijuana establishment in existence when the county law is adopted would be considered a legal, nonconforming use in the draft law.
In an email Sept. 4, Sussex County spokesman Chip Guy said county council will discuss the issue Sept. 9, and will consider its direction at that time.
Kevin Conlon came to the Cape Gazette with nearly 40 years of newspaper experience since graduating from St. Bonaventure University in New York with a bachelor's degree in mass communication. He reports on Sussex County government and other assignments as needed.
His career spans working as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers in upstate New York, including The Daily Gazette in Schenectady. He comes to the Cape Gazette from the Cortland Standard, where he was an editor for more than 25 years, and in recent years also contributed as a columnist and opinion page writer. He and his staff won regional and state writing awards.
Conlon was relocating to Lewes when he came across an advertisement for a reporter job at the Cape Gazette, and the decision to pursue it paid off. His new position gives him an opportunity to stay in a career that he loves, covering local news for an independently owned newspaper.
Conlon is the father of seven children and grandfather to two young boys. In his spare time, he trains for and competes in triathlons and other races. Now settling into the Cape Region, he is searching out hilly trails and roads with wide shoulders. He is a fan of St. Bonaventure sports, especially rugby and basketball, as well as following the Mets, Steelers and Celtics.
