WINDSOR WRESTLES WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES

WINDSOR -- Windsor officials have 75 days to figure out not only how
to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries but where to allow them to
operate.

The latter may be harder than the former.

A recent discussion among members of the Windsor Town Board and the
Windsor Planning Commission generated more questions than answers.

Nearly everyone left the meeting still not knowing what direction they
were heading.

"I don't want to do this off the cuff," town board member Michael
Kelly said. "I don't know if I even know the questions I want to ask
until I have some more answers."

Defining the Business

First on the agenda was defining the terms "dispensaries" and
"cultivation activities." But "cultivation activities" confused
everyone the most.

Under Amendment 20, caregivers are allowed to grow two plants per
patient, and those who grow the plants must be caregivers.

Businesses designed simply to grow marijuana plants for the purpose of
selling to dispensaries are not allowed.

However, a caregiver could have hundreds of patients, and no one on
the board wanted to see someone cultivating acres of plants. In
addition, Mayor John Vazquez wanted to know what constituted a
commercial grower.

"I think it's pretty simple," planning commissioner David Squicquero
said. "If you're growing plants for yourself, it's fine. But if you're
growing for others, it's commercial. I don't care if it's one or 100."

But Vazquez didn't agree.

"In my mind, there has to be a number where it's clear you are
commercial. (Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms) says it's 300 barrels of
whiskey that takes me from a hillbilly moonshiner to a distiller. What
is that number for marijuana plants?"

To complicate matters, Windsor has no zoning for agricultural use. So
board members are unsure whether they need to put grow operations
specifically in an agricultural zone.

Vernon Thomas, a prospective dispensary owner, told board members that
marijuana is not grown in a field or farm-type environment. Marijuana
is grown indoors using special lamps that stay at specific
temperatures.

'I Don't Know'

Amendment 20 didn't give very clear direction on how medical marijuana
should be bought, sold, used or regulated. So board members learned
that town attorney Ian McCargar doesn't have a lot of case law to fall
back on for answers.

"Can we just not allow them?" Squicquero asked.

"I don't know," McCargar said.

"Will we be opening ourselves up to litigation?" Vazquez
asked.

"I don't know," McCargar repeated.

"Can we make the zoning so tight that there is really no place left to
go?" Matthew O'Neill asked.

"I don't know," came the answer again from McCargar. "I know I've said
this a lot tonight, but I really just don't know."

Where to Begin?

Windsor Planning Director Joe Plummer outlined where he thought would
be the most appropriate places for the dispensaries. Those were
limited industrial areas, heavy industrial areas and general
commercial areas. Dispensaries would be off-limits in residential
mixed-use areas, which are areas that encompass general commercial,
light industrial and residential zones in one master-planned area.
Likewise, grow operations would not be allowed in neighborhood
commercial areas, which are commercial zones that sit inside major
subdivisions.

Plummer also outlined grow operations allowances for limited and heavy
industrial areas only, setting off a whole new set of questions.

Setbacks

Limited and heavy industrial areas must be buffered from residential
areas by a certain distance. Limited industrial must be set back by 35
feet, while heavy industrial areas must be set back by 150 feet -- not
nearly far enough for board member Michael Kelly.

"We make adult businesses locate 750 feet from residentially zoned
areas, but we're only going to require 35 feet for marijuana
dispensaries?" Kelly asked.

After Plummer explained that there would be tighter setbacks than the
35 feet, Kelly still wasn't convinced -- by any of it.

"I don't think the citizens of Windsor want it in a general commercial
area, either," Kelly said. "We're trying to make this fit like any
other business. And this is not like any other business. I'd almost
rather put it to a vote of the citizens in April."

Other Examples

Planners recommended that dispensaries be allowed no closer than 500
feet to a school or 750 feet from a church, residential area, public
park, cemetery, liquor store or other dispensary. Everyone clearly
didn't agree with those recommendations.

"What does a cemetery have to do with this?" O'Neill
asked.

McCargar gave examples of what other towns and cities have done to
restrict locations. In Frisco, for example, there must be 1,000 feet
between a dispensary and schools, residential areas and other
dispensaries.

Most liked the idea of 1,000 feet but asked staff to bring back more
examples so they could compare more data.

Then there is downtown. One dispensary -- A New Dawn Wellness Clinic
at 520 Main St. -- already has opened downtown. It was allowed to stay
open during the moratorium, and one thing McCargar was sure of was
that it would not be in the board's best interest if it forced A New
Dawn to relocate after the moratorium is lifted.

But board members all agreed they don't want more dispensaries in the
area of Main Street between 3rd and 7th streets.

So the board came up with another plan. If setbacks of 150 feet from
the centerline of Main Street were added and a quarter-mile distance
was required between dispensaries, it might be enough to keep
dispensaries out of downtown.

"I know I'm not a real fan of having a pot leaf on every other window
in downtown Windsor," planning commissioner David Cox said.

Final Findings

The town board may find itself extending the moratorium. There was not
enough information from staff to make anyone comfortable, and the
board asked staff to go back to the drawing board and bring back
clearer definitions, specific setbacks and distance requirements, more
examples of what other communities have done and a plan that can be
tweaked.

"And I don't want to see it for the first time at the first reading,"
Vazquez said. "I want another work session on this."

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WHAT'S NEXT

The Windsor Town Board will hold another work session after Jan. 1 to
look over final recommendations for medical marijuana dispensary
zoning. On Jan. 4, the town board will meet to begin discussing policy
and regulations.