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Request for Action <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />To Item Number <br />Planning Commission 4.4 <br />Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by <br />Public Hearings November 28, 2023 Zack Carlton, Community Development Director <br />Item Description Reviewed by <br />City of Elk River Chris Leeseberg, Senior Planner <br /> Ordinance Amendment Regulating Cannabis <br />Reviewed by <br />Growing, Processing, and Manufacturing, <br /> <br />Case No. OA 23-06 <br /> <br />Action Requested <br />Open the public hearing, receive testimony, and continue the public hearing to December 19, 2023. <br /> <br />Background/Discussion <br />During the 2023 legislative session the state approved adult use recreational cannabis. The legislation requires the <br />state to establish an office of cannabis management, which will provide guidance for implementation of the new <br />legislation. This office is not expected to begin licensing cannabis operations until early 2025, but the city should <br />begin discussions on how to regulate the new industry. <br /> <br />Staff have begun receiving inquiries regarding cannabis manufacturing and sales. Having a framework in place well <br />in advance of the state’s capacity to issue licenses allows staff to better answer future inquiries. <br /> <br />The first component of the industry that the city will address is the growing, processing, and manufacturing of <br />cannabis and cannabis products. The use, while agricultural in nature, may be more closely related to light <br />manufacturing uses than agricultural and could be regulated as such. <br /> <br />Staff recommends permitting the growing and manufacturing of cannabis as a conditional use in all of the city’s <br />industrial districts. Staff also recommends requiring all commercial scale growing operations to take place within a <br />greenhouse or other structure. <br /> <br />State statute included the following definitions for cannabis growing/cultivating and manufacturing: <br />Cannabis cultivator. A cannabis cultivator can grow cannabis plants within the approved amount of space from seed to <br />immature plant to mature plant, harvest cannabis flower, package and label immature cannabis plants and seedlings and cannabis <br />flower, and transport cannabis flower to cannabis manufacturers. <br /> <br />Cannabis manufacturer. A cannabis manufacturer may purchase cannabis flower, cannabis products hemp plant parts, <br />hemp concentrate, and artificially derived cannabinoids from a cannabis business, purchase hemp plants and hemp concentrates, <br />make cannabis hemp concentrate, manufacture artificially derived cannabinoids, manufacture adult-use cannabis products, lower- <br />potency hemp edibles, and hemp derived consumer products, and sell cannabis concentrate, hemp concentrate, artificially derived <br />cannabinoids, cannabis products, lower-potency hemp edibles, and hemp-derived consumer products to other cannabis businesses. <br /> <br />The Elk River Vision <br />A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional <br /> <br />service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity. <br />Updated: January 2023 <br /> <br />