Somerset officials looking at best way to zone for medical marijuana dispensaries

Mar. 22—Somerset City Council is set to take the first steps in navigating how to deal with new medical marijuana regulations in the commonwealth of Kentucky. But first, they have to get a recommendation from the city's Planning and Zoning board.

The council's agenda for a special-called meeting held Monday contained an item for the first reading of a zoning ordinance, but City Attorney John Adams said the council had to hold back until Planning and Zoning can make their recommendation.

"We can't do zoning text legislation or zoning map legislation here, without first a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning board," Adams said.

What officials are considering is to limit marijuana dispensaries to Business-1 or Business-2 areas, and prevent them from being within a certain number of feet — Adams suggested 1,000 feet — of schools, churches or recover facilities.

That last one was the main reason the city is looking at putting rules in place now, before any such businesses begin, Mayor Alan Keck explained.

"We want to make sure someone doesn't end up getting a permit or a license from the state, and then they claim they're grandfathered in (into) a location we don't think is suitable for our community," Keck said. "We want to make sure we protect those three — at least those three — areas that he mentioned, schools, churches and recovery communities."

The Kentucky Legislature passed last year a bill that allows patients with valid medical cards access to marijuana. The law doesn't take effect until January 2025, and patients must first be approved for a card allowing its use.

Medical cannabis can be prescribed only for specific conditions, such as cancer, chronic pain, chronic nausea, epilepsy and PTSD.

Adams said the city would also like to limit cultivation, processing and storage of marijuana to industrial zones.

Adams also explained that each local government has to decide the best course of action for their community, including whether or not to even allow dispensaries.

Before the January 1 starting date, Somerset will need to decide whether to opt in or opt out, or put a local referendum on the ballot to ask the citizens what they want to do.

Adams added that there's a push from the state and the Kentucky League of Cities to make these decisions sooner rather than later.

"I don't want to be in February saying 'Well, I wish I'd gone back six months ago and gotten the zoning recommendation on it and gotten a zoning on it,'" Adams said.

The implementation of the medical marijuana laws are not the same as that of allowing alcohol sales, Adams said. "It's a little different from alcohol, in that during prohibition, each state had a prohibition statute. This, you don't really have a prohibition statute. It's considered a schedule I or schedule II drug by the federal government," he said.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, marijuana is a Scheduled I drug.

Also at Monday's meeting, the council held the first reading of an amendment to the city's current budget.

The proposed changes are for the revenues and expenditures in the following departments:

* General Fund: from $28,560,030 to $28,760,030

* Sanitation: from $6,893,350 to $7,494,160

* Wastewater: from $12,813,800, to $14,714,655

* Somersplash Water Park: from $2,562,000 to $2,962,000

* MAP fund: from $251,150 to $330,150

A second reading and vote will take place at a later date.

The council also approved the annexation request for a property located at 812 Ky. 39.

Carla Slavey can be reached at cslavey@somerset-kentucky.com