Erlanger City Attorney Jack Gatlin discussed with the council what steps are next for medicinal cannabis in the city on Tuesday night.
Earlier this month, the Erlanger City Council discussed a resolution for a proposed text amendment in the city’s zoning laws regarding medicinal cannabis which, becomes available in the commonwealth in early 2025.
In the meeting, Gatlin mentioned that the Planning and Development Services of Kenton County was looking to ban the operation of medicinal cannabis businesses in the county. In April, they suggested in a memo potential restrictions, including limiting the number of established cannabis business operations within a zone and specific hours of operation for the businesses.
Councilwoman Jennifer Jasper-Lucas mentioned struggling to find anything about the potential ban in the county, but according to Gatlin, the first reading of the ban was a small document.
“I have seen the ordinance of the first reading, I was not there, but I do have a copy of their first reading ordinance which is very thin, it’s very simple it just says ‘We’re banning businesses throughout Kenton County,’” said Gatlin.
The fiscal court in Kenton County is working on a second reading of the medicinal cannabis ban in the county next week. However, Kentucky Rights Statutes require individual cities to overturn the county ban if they wish to do so, meaning Erlanger could still welcome these businesses.
The city would need to adjust the zoning ordinance to match the resolution that was passed earlier this month. To do so the city would build in the repealing of the county ban into their ordinance. Another option cities may choose to overturn the ban is a petition process.
During the meeting, Gatlin also made it clear that this ban would not ban the use of medicinal cannabis in the county but the operation of businesses in the county.
Gatlin predicts a first reading would probably be between October and November based on the timing of the first public hearing, with a second reading happening before the end of the year. While Kenton County has only done a first reading on the matter, according to Gatlin, the county seems to be following Campbell County in placing a ban to allow cities more time to decide since the legislation created a tight timeline for medicinal cannabis.
The timeline for medicinal cannabis in the state starts with businesses being able to be issued a license on July 1. However, they can’t operate till Jan. 1, 2025. Gatlin said the process for businesses allowing citizens to vote is slightly different.
“If you’re one of the cities that has chosen to give voters the voice on this, like Independence has done, like Crestview Hills has done […] you have to have all that in place pretty much by August 5th,” he said. “So if you’re gonna ban it, you gotta ban it by July 1st to then give voters the opportunity for a petition […] and they have 30 days to get that petition together. That petition needs to be in front of the clerk before August 5th.”
Gatlin emphasized that he thinks the logic in Campbell County and Kenton County is some jurisdictions might not understand how tight the timeframe is, and banning it with the allowance of overturning it helps these jurisdictions get more time to decide.
For the time being, there is no scheduled date for me to readdress the matter.
