Ordinance would ban downtown pot sales

CELINA - City council members at their regular meeting Monday gave first reading to an ordinance that would effectively prohibit medical and recreational marijuana-related facilities from operating in most of downtown Celina.

Councilors voted 4-to-1 to advance the ordinance to second reading. Councilman June Scott cast the lone "no" vote, citing the hypocrisy of discouraging marijuana-related facilities downtown but not bars. Councilmen Mark Fleck and Eric Clausen were absent.

The legislation would create a new chapter of the city's codified ordinances and establish location standards restricting medical marijuana dispensaries and recreational marijuana facilities within 1,000 feet of the boundaries of a parcel of real estate that contains a school, church, public library, public playground or public park.

This would go above and beyond Ohio Revised Code, which restricts medical marijuana facilities within 500 feet of the boundaries of a parcel of real estate having situated on it those entities.

Also, the new chapter would proactively restrict recreational marijuana facilities in the event recreational marijuana becomes legal via a state-wide ballot measure or act of Ohio Legislature.

The location standards would not apply to research-related to medical marijuana conducted at a state university, academic medical center or private research and development organization as part of a research protocol approved by an institutional review board or equivalent entity, according to the proposed ordinance.

Due to the location of churches, the Mercer County District Library and the Bryson Park District, the legislation would effectively restrict such facilities from setting up in most of downtown except for a lot located at the intersection of Fayette and Main streets, city safety service director Tom Hitchcock said after Monday night's meeting.

Councilors at previous committee meetings learned from city law director George Moore that the city can't outlaw medical marijuana from being sold because it is legal in Ohio and is a form of health care. However, council members can act to restrict where dispensaries could be located, Moore had said.

The question at hand is not whether a dispensary should be banned in Celina as the state had already declared it legal, council president Jason King said in August. Rather, the question is whether a dispensary should be permitted in the downtown area, an important promotional area of the city, he had said.

Scott said he's been thinking about the issue for quite a while. He cited a letter to the editor in the newspaper that pointed out the hypocrisy of council discouraging medical marijuana facilities in the downtown but not bars.

"I agreed with that. I think that's absolutely true," Scott said. "I'm not promoting the use of marijuana, whether medically, recreationally or whatever, but I do think we have to be somewhat consistent on these types of things."

Second reading of the ordinance will be given at the next council meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 in council chambers on the second floor of the city administration building.