Medical cannabis will officially be legal for sale and consumption in Kentucky starting on Jan. 1, 2025. As such, counties and municipalities around the commonwealth have rushed to set up rules and regulations to govern forthcoming cannabis businesses.
Tuesday’s election saw all 10 NKY cities that put medical cannabis operations on the ballot pass them. Now, these cities have to figure out what that actually looks like.
In July, the Boone County Planning Commission crafted a series of zoning regulations for medical cannabis businesses. These regulations set zoning parameters and specific use standards and define what qualifies as a cannabis business.
These standards apply to various types of existing zoning designations in Boone County, such as Agricultural, Commercial, Office, Industrial, Public Facilities, Airport, Walton Downtown District, Union Commercial, Union Town Center Zone, Graves Road Commercial and Graves Road Business District.
Boone County’s proposed specific use standards require that:
- Cannabis businesses shall only take place in an enclosed, locked facility.
- Cannabis businesses shall not be located within 1,000 feet of an existing elementary or secondary school or a daycare center.
- Cannabis businesses shall not be located within 500 feet of a public park or playground.
- Cannabis businesses shall not be located within 500 feet of a religious assembly facility.
- Cannabis businesses shall not be located within 500 feet of a sexually oriented business.
- A dispensary shall not be located within 1,000 feet of an existing dispensary.
Now, following the 2024 election, the Boone County Planning Commission wants to get the ball rolling on helping the cities of Florence and Union, both of which voted to allow cannabis businesses within the city, finalize cannabis zoning regulations before Jan. 1.
“They have our text amendments, our recommendations, and so they’re going to take what we gave them and adopt some version that may not be exactly the same, but we gave them some options,” Planning Commission Executive Director Kevin Costello said during a Nov. 6 meeting.
The next step is for the cities to enact ordinances regulating the time, place and manner of cannabis business operations.
The Florence City Council held a special meeting on November 6, during which the legislative body discussed the potential of adopting the planning commissions’ zoning recommendations.
“Our citizens went to the polls yesterday and approved the location of cannabis-related businesses,” Florence Mayor Julie Metzger Aubuchon said during the meeting. “We do have some requirements in order to allow those businesses to be located here within the city.”
The city council added a Florence-specific portion to the recommended zoning regulations that stated medical cannabis businesses should not be located within a planned development overlay zone unless there is a concept development plan or an approved change to an existing concept development plan to allow for that particular use.
While the council did not vote on Wednesday, action is anticipated for a meeting at a later date. The next Florence city council meeting is slated for Nov. 12.
During the Nov. 6 meeting, Costello said the planning commission was working with the Florence City Council and Union Commission on adopting the zoning regulations.
So far, no cities in Northern Kentucky have been selected to have a medical cannabis business. The Commonwealth of Kentucky will distribute medical cannabis business licenses – which include cultivators, processors, and dispensaries – through a random lottery system. In total, 48 licenses will be granted to prospective dispensaries across the state.
The state’s first license lottery was held on October 28. During that round, 16 cultivator licenses and 10 processor licenses were issued. Lottery drawings for dispensary licenses are scheduled for Nov. 25 and Dec. 16.
