Newtown Township – With the Pennsylvania Department of Health getting ready to implement the states new medical marijuana program, local officials are looking at where the licensed growers and dispensaries should be located.
Because Newtown Township is part of a joint municipal zoning consortium with neighboring Upper Makefield and Wrightstown townships, any zoning ordinances regulating the location of the cannabis operations must be approved by all three municipalities, collectively known as the jointure.
At the Jan. 11 Newtown supervisors meeting, township solicitor Jeffrey Garton briefed the board on the Jan. 5 joint zoning council meeting, which he attended, and the lengthy discussions over the states medical marijuana law which was signed by Gov. Tom Wolf in April 2016.
We need to proceed on how to zone for medical marijuana, he said. Under the act, dispensaries and growing facilities have to be treated the same way as other similar uses in the zoning ordinances, but you can regulate it.
We know that people are out there looking for a location, perhaps in Bristol Township and Lower Southampton, he added.
According to Garton, the Bucks County Planning Commission has been tasked with looking at these zoning issues.
He said that the matter will be discussed further at the next joint zoning council meeting on Feb. 2 and where possible locations would be appropriate.
Theres a limited number of licenses statewide, Garton explained, noting that the facilities selling medical marijuana must be a certain size and bonded.
The average person cannot grow marijuana in their backyard, he said of the new state law.
Also, dispensaries can grow cannabis only to sell it, according to the township solicitor.
The two operations have to be separate and distinct, Garton said.
In Pennsylvania, there are restrictions on growing, added township manager Kurt Ferguson, who said that it can be grown hydroponically, which is in chemically-treated water.
It also cannot be smoked, he added. It will be sold in little strips.
The new state law only allows edible forms of marijuana and vaporization to be dispensed; smoking is not permitted.
Ferguson also told the board that he and assistant township manager Micah Lewis are planning to attend a half-day seminar on Feb. 1 sponsored by Lafayette College in Easton.
According to the township manager, the conference will have speakers from surrounding states that already have medical marijuana laws in place and discuss the issue from a zoning perspective.
There will also be a medical marijuana grower who will talk about what kind of facilities they look for and what land, Ferguson said. Well gather all of that [information] and provide it to the board [of supervisors] and the jointure.
Supervisor Jennifer Dix noted that there are two main issues at stake for the board to consider – where its grown and where its sold.
Meanwhile, Supervisor Gerry Couch had concerns over where the medical dispensaries are eventually located, questioning what would occur if recreational marijuana is legalized in Pennsylvania, like it is in other states, such as Colorado, and if those facilities would be able to sell it.
The supervisors indicated that they will look at the zoning issue in the coming months and keep close tabs on what the joint zoning council decides.
Any proposed ordinance that the jointure promulgates to regulate growing and dispensing medical marijuana still must be approved by each participating township in order to take effect in all three municipalities.
The state health department is currently in the process of drawing up regulations governing the issuance of medical marijuana identification cards for those with a serious long-term, or terminal medical condition.
The cards will be issued after a registered physician certifies the application, and the patients must remain under that physicians care.
Those patients under 18-years-old would need parental consent to receive the cards.
The implementation of the program is expected to take between 18 and 24 month after being signed into law last April.
To date, 28 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Newtown Township Supervisors Discuss Zoning For Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
Author: D.E. Schlatter
Contact: 1-215-648-1080
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Bucks Local News
