Mayor and Council have put a sixth-month moratorium on allowing new CBD stores from opening in the city.
City officials say some CBD stores may actually be selling products that are illegal and include elevated levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, the major psychoactive component of cannabis.
“Some of these stores have actually expanded to sell a whole lot more products and there’s not a way to regulate the products they’re selling,” Mayor Barbara Bender said. “And some of (the products) are above the legal limits and they are selling things that are illegal. It’s become quite a quagmire.”
While the moratorium is in place, the Planning and Zoning Department will conduct a study to investigate the current status and propose necessary changes to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance.
“What we want to do right now is put a stop to any new applications coming in for these types of stores, selling these types of products, so that we can put it into our development regulations to require a special use permit which requires them to come before Mayor and Council. At this point we feel like this is the step we can take to try and at least not allow more to open in the city.”
The resolution containing the moratorium approved by Mayor and Council notes, cannabis-based products are largely unregulated under the law the health impacts of CBD and cannabis-based products are largely unknown.
Bender said state Rep. Shelly Hutchinson told her she will bring the issue before the state legislature.
The moratorium went in effect immediately and runs through July 23, 2023.