Where medical marijuana dispensaries, cultivators can operate in Fayette County
Medical marijuana companies will soon be able to operate in Fayette County.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve licensing and new zoning regulations for medical cannabis operators.
The state will likely start issuing licenses to those companies as early as July 1. Companies will then be able to operate starting Jan. 1, when medical marijuana becomes legal in Kentucky. Those licenses will be granted through a lottery system.
Under the state law, local governments can choose to prohibit medical cannabis operators or allow them. Many local governments are scrambling to either ban or regulate those businesses before July 1.
Some cities and counties have opted to ban them, including Boone and Campbell counties. The ban only applies to companies not the use of medical marijuana.
No one has spoken against Fayette County’s decision to allow medical cannabis businesses since the city began debate about the regulations in March.
Under Lexington’s ordinance, all medical cannabis businesses will be charged an annual licensing fee of $500.
Where dispensaries and cultivators will be allowed
The types of medical cannabis operators under the law include:
Cultivators (growers)
Processor
Producer
Safety Compliance Facility
Dispensary
State law says no cannabis operation can be within 1,000 feet of a school or daycare. The zoning ordinance restricts where certain types of operations can go.
Here’s what the ordinance says:
Cultivators or growers would be allowed in industrial and economic development zones. It would be a prohibited use in all residential, business and mixed-use zones. Depending on the size of the growing operation, it would be allowed as a conditional use — meaning it would have to get special approval — in some agricultural zones. Those growing operations have to be in an enclosed, locked facility, according to the law.
Processors, which take the raw materials and turn it into a product, would be allowed in industrial and economic development zones but would be prohibited in all other zones.
Producers, which can process and market the product, also would be allowed in industrial and economic development zones but would be prohibited in all other residential and business zones.
Safety compliance facilities, which test medical cannabis among other activities, would be allowed in some business zones including professional office space, the two primary business zones, industrial and economic development zones. It would be prohibited in residential areas.
Dispensaries, which sell medical marijuana to the public, would be allowed in many of the city’s business zones and mixed use zones. They will be prohibited in residential zones, industrial and economic development zones.
