Medical cannabis businesses will be allowed to operate in Erlanger starting next year following a vote from the Erlanger City Council last week.
The council cast a 5 to 3 vote in favor of establishing zoning for the businesses. Councilmembers Tyson Hermes, Jennifer Jasper-Lucas, Vicki Kyle, Diana Niceley and Rebecca Reckers voted in favor of the zoning. Councilmembers Don Skidmore, Renee Skidmore and Renee Wilson voted against the zoning. Councilmember Tom Cahill did not attend the meeting.
The ordinance received a favorable recommendation from the Kenton County Planning Commission in July.
The ordinance allows the operation of medical cannabis cultivation, processing, producing and safety compliance facilities as permitted uses within the city’s business park, flex industrial and general industrial zones. Dispensaries, on the other hand, could operate in residential office conversion, neighborhood commercial, community commercial, highway commercial and mixed use zones. Dispensaries cannot open within 1,000 feet of a school or a daycare.
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.
Any medical cannabis business that wishes to establish itself in Erlanger can begin operating in the city beginning Jan. 1, 2025, so long as they follow the state’s licensing and administrative requirements and conform to Erlanger’s zoning regulations.