10.
City Council Work Session
- Meeting Date:
- 05/31/2022
- From:
- Tiffany Antol, Senior Planner
- Department:
- Planning & Development Services
Co-Submitter:
TITLE:
Case No. PZ-22-00074: Request for a work session to discuss the Noble Herb’s proposed amendment to the Zoning Code to revise the existing hours of operation for Marijuana Dispensaries (Section 10-40.60.220.C).
Case No. PZ-22-00089: Request for a work session to discuss the City’s proposed amendment to the Zoning Code to address Marijuana Operations in the City of Flagstaff by updating terms and definitions to include recreation-only retail establishments (Section 10-80.20.130) and potentially revise the separation requirements for all Marijuana Operations (Section 10-40.60.220.F)
Case No. PZ-22-00089: Request for a work session to discuss the City’s proposed amendment to the Zoning Code to address Marijuana Operations in the City of Flagstaff by updating terms and definitions to include recreation-only retail establishments (Section 10-80.20.130) and potentially revise the separation requirements for all Marijuana Operations (Section 10-40.60.220.F)
DESIRED OUTCOME:
The purpose of the work session is for staff to present an overview of the proposed amendments, to allow interested residents to provide their ideas, suggestions, and concerns, and for the Council to ask questions, seek clarification, and discuss the amendment, as well as offer alternate suggestions and ideas. The Council will take no action at this work session. After the work session, staff will revise the proposed amendments. The amendments will then be presented to the Council at a public hearing for consideration and action.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Review of two proposed Zoning Code Text Amendments about Marijuana Establishments/Operations within the City of Flagstaff. The first amendment is a request from a local dispensary to modify the hours of operation for dispensaries from 7 pm to 10 pm. The second amendment is intended to address the recently issued social equity licenses to allow recreational-only sales establishments.
INFORMATION:
There are two separate requests presented together in this work session regarding Marijuana Operations including either dispensaries or retail establishments. Each of these requests will be approved separately when presented at a public hearing and will require separate Ordinances.
PZ-22-00074
The first request is from Noble Herb, which currently runs a permitted Marijuana Dispensary in Flagstaff. Its request is to modify Section 10-40.60.220.C, which sets the operation hours for Marijuana Dispensaries, as follows:
Current Text
A Marijuana Dispensary shall have operating hours not earlier than 8:00 a.m. and not later than 7:00 p.m.
Proposed Text
A Marijuana Dispensary shall have operating hours not earlier than 8:00 a.m. and not later than 10:00 p.m.
The applicant’s narrative describing this request and a list of zoning code requirements across the state are attached for the Commission’s review.
PZ-22-00089
The second request is in response to a work session with the City Council on April 12, 2022, at which the Council discussed allowing social equity licensees to operate in Flagstaff.
The “Smart and Safe Arizona Act” (the “Act”), certified as Proposition 207, was passed by Arizona voters at the November 3, 2020, general election and became effective on December 1, 2020. The Act declared that “the responsible adult use of marijuana should be legal for persons twenty-one years of age or older subject to state regulation, taxation, and local ordinance.”
The Act allows for Marijuana Establishments, which are entities licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services to operate a retail location for the sale of recreational marijuana, an off-site marijuana cultivation facility, and an off-site manufacturing facility. Pursuant to the licensing rules in the Act, the vast majority of the marijuana establishment licenses were given to entities that were already operating medical marijuana dispensaries. However, the Act also directed the Arizona Department of Health Services to issue twenty-six additional marijuana establishment licenses across the State of Arizona for the purpose of encouraging social equity in marijuana establishment ownership. Social equity licenses were issued to applicants who qualified under the Social Equity Ownership Program at a random drawing on April 8, 2022.
On March 16, 2021, the Flagstaff City Council adopted Ordinance 2021-03, which enacted certain regulations regarding the use and sale of recreational marijuana in Flagstaff. One of the regulations adopted by Council prohibits the operation of recreational marijuana establishments in Flagstaff, except where authorized by a dual licensee that is permitted by the State of Arizona to operate both a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary and a marijuana establishment at a shared location. Under the current rules, social equity licenses are not dual licenses—they are recreation only. To allow recreational-only retail establishments, the Marijuana Dispensary definition would need to be amended as follows:
A. Definitions
Current Text
Marijuana Dispensary: A medical or dual licensee (as defined in A.R.S. 36-2850, as amended) Marijuana Dispensary certified by the State of Arizona to sell Marijuana and Marijuana products to consumers, which may include the cultivation, manufacturing, processing, packaging, or storage of Marijuana products as an accessory use to the dispensary
Proposed Text
Marijuana Retail Establishment: A Non-Profit Medical Marijuana Dispensary, a Dual-Licensed establishment (as defined in A.R.S. 36-2850, as amended), or a single recreational retail establishment certified by the State of Arizona to sell Marijuana and Marijuana products to consumers, which may include the cultivation, manufacturing, processing, packaging, or storage of Marijuana products as an accessory use to the dispensary.
Staff is recommending the revision to a few other definitions in the code to better align the Zoning Code with Arizona Revised Statutes. The recommendations are attached for the Council's review. In addition to the proposed zoning code amendments, revisions to Chapter 6-10 of the City Code pertaining to Regulation of Recreational Marijuana will also need to be amended to allow recreational-only retail establishments.
B. Separation
Marijuana Establishments (to be renamed Marijuana Operations), which include retail establishments, cultivation establishments, manufacturing establishments and testing facilities, are regulated by Section 10-40.60.220 of the Zoning Code to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. Marijuana Dispensaries (as currently defined – proposed to be called Marijuana Retail Establishments) are only permitted in the Highway Commercial (HC) zone. This Section includes minimum separation requirements for a Marijuana Establishment, measured in a straight line from the boundary of the lot or parcel containing any of the existing uses listed below:
Staff does not have any specific recommendations for modifying the minimum separation requirements at this time.
PZ-22-00074
The first request is from Noble Herb, which currently runs a permitted Marijuana Dispensary in Flagstaff. Its request is to modify Section 10-40.60.220.C, which sets the operation hours for Marijuana Dispensaries, as follows:
Current Text
A Marijuana Dispensary shall have operating hours not earlier than 8:00 a.m. and not later than 7:00 p.m.
Proposed Text
A Marijuana Dispensary shall have operating hours not earlier than 8:00 a.m. and not later than 10:00 p.m.
The applicant’s narrative describing this request and a list of zoning code requirements across the state are attached for the Commission’s review.
PZ-22-00089
The second request is in response to a work session with the City Council on April 12, 2022, at which the Council discussed allowing social equity licensees to operate in Flagstaff.
The “Smart and Safe Arizona Act” (the “Act”), certified as Proposition 207, was passed by Arizona voters at the November 3, 2020, general election and became effective on December 1, 2020. The Act declared that “the responsible adult use of marijuana should be legal for persons twenty-one years of age or older subject to state regulation, taxation, and local ordinance.”
The Act allows for Marijuana Establishments, which are entities licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services to operate a retail location for the sale of recreational marijuana, an off-site marijuana cultivation facility, and an off-site manufacturing facility. Pursuant to the licensing rules in the Act, the vast majority of the marijuana establishment licenses were given to entities that were already operating medical marijuana dispensaries. However, the Act also directed the Arizona Department of Health Services to issue twenty-six additional marijuana establishment licenses across the State of Arizona for the purpose of encouraging social equity in marijuana establishment ownership. Social equity licenses were issued to applicants who qualified under the Social Equity Ownership Program at a random drawing on April 8, 2022.
On March 16, 2021, the Flagstaff City Council adopted Ordinance 2021-03, which enacted certain regulations regarding the use and sale of recreational marijuana in Flagstaff. One of the regulations adopted by Council prohibits the operation of recreational marijuana establishments in Flagstaff, except where authorized by a dual licensee that is permitted by the State of Arizona to operate both a nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary and a marijuana establishment at a shared location. Under the current rules, social equity licenses are not dual licenses—they are recreation only. To allow recreational-only retail establishments, the Marijuana Dispensary definition would need to be amended as follows:
A. Definitions
Current Text
Marijuana Dispensary: A medical or dual licensee (as defined in A.R.S. 36-2850, as amended) Marijuana Dispensary certified by the State of Arizona to sell Marijuana and Marijuana products to consumers, which may include the cultivation, manufacturing, processing, packaging, or storage of Marijuana products as an accessory use to the dispensary
Proposed Text
Marijuana Retail Establishment: A Non-Profit Medical Marijuana Dispensary, a Dual-Licensed establishment (as defined in A.R.S. 36-2850, as amended), or a single recreational retail establishment certified by the State of Arizona to sell Marijuana and Marijuana products to consumers, which may include the cultivation, manufacturing, processing, packaging, or storage of Marijuana products as an accessory use to the dispensary.
Staff is recommending the revision to a few other definitions in the code to better align the Zoning Code with Arizona Revised Statutes. The recommendations are attached for the Council's review. In addition to the proposed zoning code amendments, revisions to Chapter 6-10 of the City Code pertaining to Regulation of Recreational Marijuana will also need to be amended to allow recreational-only retail establishments.
B. Separation
Marijuana Establishments (to be renamed Marijuana Operations), which include retail establishments, cultivation establishments, manufacturing establishments and testing facilities, are regulated by Section 10-40.60.220 of the Zoning Code to protect the public health, safety, and welfare. Marijuana Dispensaries (as currently defined – proposed to be called Marijuana Retail Establishments) are only permitted in the Highway Commercial (HC) zone. This Section includes minimum separation requirements for a Marijuana Establishment, measured in a straight line from the boundary of the lot or parcel containing any of the existing uses listed below:
- Two thousand feet from another Marijuana Establishment;
- Five hundred feet from a residential substance abuse treatment facility or other residential drug or alcohol rehabilitation facility licensed by the State of Arizona;
- Five hundred feet from a community college, university, or from any public, private, parochial, charter, dramatic, dancing, music learning center, or other similar school or education facility that caters to children;
- Five hundred feet from a daycare home or daycare center;
- Five hundred feet from a public library or public park; and
- Five hundred feet from a facility devoted to family recreation or entertainment.
Staff does not have any specific recommendations for modifying the minimum separation requirements at this time.
Attachments
- Noble Herb Narrative
- Nobile Herb proposed amendment
- State Dispensary Hours
- City Amendment
- Presentation