By Brenda Erdahl
The recent legalization of Cannabis in Minnesota has created more questions than answers for Wright County staff which is why on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at the regular county board meeting they asked commissioners to schedule a public hearing to consider a moratorium.
The public hearing was approved and will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 12 during the regular county board meeting.
If enacted, the moratorium would allow staff to study the new law and start developing a plan on how cannabis will be regulated within the county, Attorney Greg Kryzer told the board. The moratorium could remain in effect until Jan. 1 of 2025, the legal date that licensing needs to be available to the public to be able to sell it.
On May 30 of this year, Governor Tim Walz signed into law the legalizing of use, possession, and cultivation of cannabis within the state. As of August 1, it became legal for recreational use for those 21 years old and older.
Municipalities across the state have already started enacting moratoriums so they can better study how this new law will be handled, Commissioner Darek Vetsch said. “We discussed a moratorium in July, but felt it was a little too early for us to start the research phase of it. Now we are at the point where we need to have a bigger discussion about where our involvement is with the cities.”
Kryzer said that the County has received several consensus and joint powers agreements from townships and cities looking to partner with other jurisdictions to regulate cannabis in their area. The moratorium would place a freeze at planning and zoning regarding opening new shops within unincorporated areas of the county, like townships.
Although at this point licensing is not yet available, with a moratorium in place the County would be saying it’s going to study the law and develop an internal policy about how it is going to monitor cannabis licensing when it does become available in a little more than a year.
“We need to start developing a plan on how we deal with this from a planning and zoning perspective as well as a licensing perspective especially as the state rolls out more information in the months ahead as we get close to 2025 where on sale licensing will be required to be available,” Vetsch said.