A preliminary zoning plan for medical cannabis businesses cleared the Kenton County Planning Commission Thursday. Although the Independence City Council voted in June to put the medical cannabis question on the ballot, Thursday’s vote would allow the city to institute zoning in time for next year if residents decide to allow it.
“It will be on the ballot,” said Independence Mayor Chris Reinersman in July. “In preparation for it, if it passes, we wanted to go ahead and get the ball rolling on the zoning.”
If the November ballot measure fails, the proposed zoning regulations will not take effect.
The proposed change would allow medical cannabis cultivation, processing, production and safety compliance facilities to operate in suburban industrial zones. Dispensaries, on the other hand, could operate in rural, neighborhood, community and suburban industrial zones.
Cities and counties can regulate medical cannabis in one of three ways: by prohibiting it outright, by establishing zones where the businesses are allowable, or by sending the issue to the ballot, allowing residents to decide.
The legalization of medical cannabis in Kentucky came about on March 31, 2023, when Gov. Andy Beshear signed Senate Bill 47 into law. The law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2025, enabled the regulation of medical marijuana statewide and established the administration of such regulation under the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the newly-established Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program.
The law established five kinds of allowable facilities: cultivating centers where the cannabis would be grown, processing facilities where the plants are refined for medical use, hybrid facilities where both cultivation and processing would take place, dispensaries, and safety facilities where products are tested to ensure they’re safe to use.
Medical cannabis facilities cannot be established within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare center. Staff from Kenton County Planning and Development Services showed maps of Independence highlighting relevant zones and nearby buffer zones, which were set off in orange and magenta circles. Click the thumbnails below to view larger versions of the maps. Note the color keys for the zoning in the bottom left-hand corners of each map.
Reinersman attended the meeting but did not make any statements. Discussion among the planning commissioners was minimal.
The matter will now return to the city council for two readings and a vote.
