Cascade County Commissioners are holding a particular assembly at 10 a.m. Nov. 12 within the Household Dwelling Middle at Montana Expo Park.
The assembly may also be obtainable by way of Zoom.
Commissioners will contemplate the suggestions made by county employees and the county planning board to amend the zoning laws for leisure marijuana land makes use of because of the latest state regulation change.
The supplies are on file for public inspection on the workplace of the Cascade County Planning Division at 121 4th St. N., Suite 2H/I and within the workplace of the Cascade County Clerk and Recorder at 121 4th St N, #1B-1.
The proposed modifications don’t seem to but be posted anyplace on the county web site as of Nov. 6.
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The commissioners will maintain a public listening to on the proposed modifications and written remark could be submitted by e-mail to [email protected].
In October, the county planning board voted unanimously to undertake modifications proposed to the zoning laws associated to leisure marijuana.
The modifications are the results of I-190, the Montana Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which was authorized by Montana voters in November 2020. The regulation goes into impact Jan. 1, 2022.
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The board was initially scheduled to contemplate the modifications at a Sept, 21 assembly, however that was canceled and moved to Oct. 19 for a bigger venue on the Household Dwelling Middle at Expo Park.
Six members of the general public, aside from The Electrical, attended in particular person, with a handful on the Zoom name.
County planning beneficial definitional modifications to replicate the modifications within the regulation and shall be recommending that or not it’s handled like medical marijuana beneath the present zoning laws. which is just permissible with a land use allow within the heavy industrial zoning district and conserving the identical setback from worship and academic services, in line with Charity Yonker, planning director.
The one change made by the planning board was to make use of “marijuana enterprise” as a substitute of “marijuana use” since that was complicated for the board members and so they anxious that it could be complicated to the general public.
The agenda and related paperwork from the October planning board assembly are available here.
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To adjust to the brand new state legal guidelines, the county planning workplace started work to revise the county’s zoning laws.
The proposed amendments solely apply to the Heavy Industrial I-2 district. At the moment, in line with the employees report, I-2 is the one district the place medical marijuana is allowed as a permitted principal use that requires a location/conformance allow, topic to necessities of the district and medical marijuana setbacks.
The setback for medical marijuana is 500 toes from faculties and worship services. It had been 1,000 toes till the county modified it to 500 toes final yr.
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Richard Leibert, planning board member, prompt throughout the October assembly making it 1,000 toes once more after it was requested by Kristi Stroop of the Alliance for Youth, who spoke on the assembly concerning the potential adverse influence to youth in the neighborhood.
The movement to vary the setback to 1,000 toes failed.
Stroop stated that drug use is affecting younger individuals and it impacts crime charges and the training system.
“Should you suppose the cash you’re going to make off that is going to be sufficient to cope with the social points,” she stated in October, “you’ll proceed to see homelessness, you’ll proceed to see the crime go up.”
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She stated town has indicated it had no intention of adjusting its guidelines and marijuana is at the moment prohibited within the metropolis limits as a result of it’s nonetheless federally unlawful. Stroop stated that’s pushing dispensaries into the agricultural areas the place there’s much less regulation enforcement, fewer laws and fewer eyes on their operations.
She prompt safeguards to incorporate the 1,000 foot setback from faculties and church buildings; proscribing the efficiency of what could be offered within the county; and limiting the variety of marijuana associated companies to 1 per 10,000 individuals within the county, or a most of 10.
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Yonker, the county planning director, stated there’s between 10 and 20 within the county already as medical marijuana services and guessed that there have been about 15, however didn’t have a concrete quantity on the assembly.
Stroop stated entry isn’t an issue, because the latest youth danger conduct surveys have indicated younger persons are capable of get and use marijuana and associated substances.
Earlier in October, the Nice Falls Public Colleges board reviewed outcomes from the 2021 youth danger conduct survey that confirmed marijuana use dropped amongst excessive schoolers from 46 p.c in 2019 to 42 p.c in 2021 and, in center schoolers, from 23 to 16 p.c for a similar years respectively.
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By comparability, the report confirmed a drop in alcohol consumption amongst excessive schoolers from 40 p.c in 2019 to 33 p.c in 2021. For center schoolers, it dropped from 33 to fifteen p.c.
Andrea Savage, GFPS’ pupil psychological well being coordinator, stated was doubtless as a consequence of COVID and the shortage of social gatherings for college students.
The report exhibits college students are additionally utilizing artificial marijuana and ache drugs, however marijuana stays the drug of selection, Savage stated, in addition to cigarettes and digital vaping.
Stroop stated, “you’re making income off of dependancy, simply keep in mind that. Now we have sufficient dependancy in our neighborhood.”
One particular person spoke in assist of creating the modifications, however requested that medical marijuana services be allowed in additional areas of the county.
The planning board was solely contemplating proposed modifications to the zoning code associated to leisure marijuana throughout their Oct. 19 assembly.
In November 2020, the fee voted 2-1 to disclaim the planning board’s suggestion from Could 2019 that may have allowed medical marijuana inside industrial, business and agricultural zoning districts, in addition to the proposed Blended-Use 20 district.
