The Ludlow City Council finalized zoning for medical cannabis businesses on Thursday, following approval from the Kenton County Planning Commission last week.
“I think it’s a good thing for the city,” said Code Enforcement Officer Jamie West, although he was skeptical that such a business would come to Ludlow anytime soon.
Like many other cities in the region, Ludlow put the issue to a vote on the November general election ballot, where over 70% of Ludlow voters cast votes in favor of allowing medical cannabis businesses.
The zoning allows for the establishment and operation of cannabis cultivation, processing, producing, and safety compliance facilities for permitted uses within the city’s industrial park and the industrial-one zones. Dispensaries, on the other hand, are allowed within Ludlow’s neighborhood commercial, special function commercial and waterfront development zones. Businesses cannot be established within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare center.
West went into the specifics of where certain facilities could go in the city, given Ludlow’s comparatively small size.
Industrial park zones consist of two parcels: the Braxton Brewing warehouse between Louise Court and Post Place and the site of the old Doxol Propane Plant, known for its characteristic blue paint. The industrial one zone largely consists of a 25-acre plot of fenced-off land owned by Norfolk Southern Railway. Cultivation, processing, producing and safety compliance facilities could conceivably be allowed at those locations.
Dispensaries, on the other hand, could go into the neighborhood commercial zone, which comprises much of the downtown business district and the special function zone, which consists of one parcel located at the corner of Deveril Street and Elm Street. The remaining areas where dispensaries could go are found along the riverfront, southwest of the intersection at Deveril Street and Elm Street all the way to the Ludlow-Bromley Yacht Club.