St. Lucie County The countys proposed medical marijuana rules would help entice dispensaries to locate here and help erase the stigma of using marijuana for medical purposes, said a Melbourne man who wants to open a dispensary here.
County planners Tuesday gave the County Commission a first look at the proposed regulations, which would limit dispensaries to commercial general, light-industrial and planned-nonresidential zoning districts.
Commercial general zoning areas mostly are along heavily traveled roads such as U.S. 1, Orange Avenue, Okeechobee Road and St. Lucie Boulevard near the Treasure Coast International Airport. The light-industrial areas are near Midway and Indrio roads, Kings Highway, Orange Avenue and St. Lucie Boulevard near the airport. Planned-nonresidential development zoning is scattered throughout the county, but mostly it’s in the high commercial corridors of U.S. 1 south of Virginia Avenue, Orange Avenue and Okeechobee Road.
You must make sure this is on a good road with visibility because the last thing I would want is for a 70-year old cancer patient driving around in a back alley to try and find this medicine," said Michael Patterson, CEO of U.S. Cannabis Pharmaceutical Research Development, who wants to open a dispensary called Florida Apothecary here and in Brevard County. "We need to take the seediness away from the use of medical marijuana."
County planners are rewriting land-development code to allow medical marijuana after Florida voters on Nov. 8 passed Amendment 2, which legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Patterson said he is waiting until after the state Department of Health this summer updates the rules on dispensary locations before applying to open a facility in St. Lucie County. He said he is looking for commercial areas near major roads.
Dispensaries would be prohibited within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, child-care facilities and must be at least 1 mile from other dispensaries, according to county records. The hours of operations would be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
The proposed regulations exclude cultivating and processing medical marijuana, which would be in another ordinance, said county spokesman Erick Gill.
The commission took no action Tuesday, but gave staff permission to advertise the proposed regulations and schedule the ordinance for public hearings.
If the ordinance is adopted, it would end the countys need for a four-month moratorium on accepting dispensary applications. The moratoriums final hearing is 6 p.m. March 7.
Patterson said the proposed county rules have the flexibility dispensary owners want and would help attract quality dispensaries.
"I wouldn’t be surprised if St. Lucie gets two or three dispensaries and probably one grower," Patterson said. "This ordinance shows the county sees this as a legitimate business."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: St. Lucie Moves Ahead With Medical Marijuana Regulations In Commercial Areas
Author: Keona Gardner
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