Bradenton will consider moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries

The city of Bradenton looks to follow suit with a Manatee County proposal to enact a 180-day moratorium on medical marijuana ahead of the likely passage of Amendment 2 on Nov. 8.

City attorney Bill Lisch said Wednesday that he will bring an ordinance to the first of two public hearings on Nov. 16 for city officials to begin discussions on the moratorium.

“Most of your communities are drafting a moratorium,” Lisch said. “I would recommend you do this, as well.”

After clarifying that a motion was only to advertise for the public hearings and was a voice for or against a moratorium, the council voted unanimously to move it forward.

“So to be clear, we are just voting to move the process forward,” said Ward 3 Councilman Patrick Roff. “We are not locked into anything, we are just opening up discussion.”

In August, Tallahasee-based Trulieve purchased two vacant buildings in the 1100 block of 14th Street West. According to Planning and Community Development Director Catherine Hartley, no formal site plans have been submitted for that site, but a moratorium begs the question of how it could impact businesses already eying Bradenton for medical marijuana dispensaries.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with the law if it passes, which it looks like it will,” said Mayor Wayne Poston. “We just want to make sure we understand what the regulations will be if it passes. If you look at Colorado, businesses are having a problem putting profits into some banks because the federal government doesn’t recognize state laws. It’s a fairly complicated thing that we just don’t have a full understanding of yet and we want to make sure we do.”

Like Manatee County, the city is saying it certainly isn’t a prohibition more than just making sure the city is in the best position to make sure businesses and residents are equally accommodating.

In September 2014, the city of Palmetto passed a medical marijuana ordinance in a 3-2 vote, but the November 2014 amendment failed. Palmetto was the first Manatee County city to tackle the issue, focusing on where to allow potential dispensaries to be within the city. Palmetto has not begun discussions thus far with the Nov. 8 election less than two weeks away.

This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Bradenton will consider moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries."