Council passes moratorium on marijuana-related activities

by Dan Holland

Members of Broadview Heights City Council at their Nov. 20 meeting passed a resolution declaring a 12-month moratorium on accepting for and consideration, review and approval of all new applications for marijuana related activities in the city.

Ohio voters in November approved Issue 2, which legalizes recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over up to 2.5 ounces. The law also allows private citizens to grow up to six marijuana plants per adult individual at home.

Medical marijuana was legalized statewide in 2016.

HB 523, passed in June 2016, allowed municipalities to establish their own medical marijuana regulations, including restricting locations where marijuana is cultivated, processed and sold.The city enacted a 12-month moratorium in August 2016 regarding medical marijuana dispensaries.

“We didn’t allow medical marijuana dispensaries. That was optional,” Council President Robert Boldt said. “The final verbiage on this will come out on Dec. 7, and based on that, we’ll evaluate it and put in place rules and regulations that we see fit in. On council floor, we’ll make changes if we want. It’s just to be proactive rather than reactive with our zoning and our rules.”

“I’ve already received a few calls from people wondering how this is going to affect the city,” Boldt continued. “So, we’re waiting on the verbiage, and then based on that, our actions will be based on what we feel our residents want the city to represent.”

Boldt said he will first reach out to other cities that have established policies regarding the issue. “We will look at some of the cities and legislation that they’ve put in place so that we’re not reinventing the wheel,” he said. “We’ll be using their expertise on what they came up with. If we like the same verbiage, we can use that. And also, we will find out if they made any mistakes; if they left any loopholes – we’ll be able to close those based on their experience.”

In other action, council approved:

• An agreement with Cook Paving & Construction Co., Inc. for repair work performed at the Avery Road Pump Station at a cost of $23,850.
• An agreement with Ferguson Waterworks for materials used for emergency repair work at the Avery Road Pump Station in the amount of $7,468.
• An agreement with C & K Industrial Services, Inc. for work performed at the Rich Hills and West Boston pump stations at a cost of $49,900.
• An agreement with North Royalton Power Equipment for a Scag Cheetah zero-turn radius mower at a cost of $13,108. ∞