Trending
SALEM -- The rules and ordinances committee forwarded an ordinance temporarily halting permits for the construction of a recreational marijuana facility to city council Tuesday night.
"All that it does is set a moratorium on the issue of building permits and occupancy licenses to a building or structure that has to do with Issue 2," said Rules and Ordinance Committee Chairman Jeff Stockman.
The ordinance, which the committee voted unanimously to forward to council for review, would implement a 12-month moratorium on the issuance of building permits and/or certificates of occupancy for any building, structure, use, or change of use that would enable the cultivation, processing or retail sale of recreational marijuana within the city. Stockman said that the ordinance only issues a temporary moratorium, which was necessary to give both the city time to review how the passage of Issue 2 will affect the city and how to handle it, and the state time to implement necessary laws and regulations regarding recreational marijuana.
"The reason for this moratorium is so that we have time as a council and the rules and ordinances committee to discuss issue two, and it also gives the state time to have laws and regulations before us, so we at least have some guidelines on it that we do not have right now," said Stockman.
Stockman also noted that Salem would not be the first city to do so, and that several other cities throughout the state have already implemented similar legislation to provide time to adjust.
"We won't be the first city to do this, there's several other cities in the state of Ohio that have done this so that the cities have time to react to it," said Stockman.
Councilwoman Sara Baer spoke favorably of the ordinance, describing it as "a thoughtful response to our current status as a result of Issue 2."
Also discussed was a proposed change to the membership of the ambulance review board. The board is currently comprised of Police Chief J.T. Panezott, Fire Chief Scott Mason, and City Service Safety Director Joe Cappuzzello; however, Stockman said that Panezott had requested to be removed.
The new proposed roster would see Cappuzzello and Mason remain on the board, with three new members added, increasing the roster from three members to five. The newly proposed members include the city council member who chairs the Safety Committee, which is currently Third-Ward Councilwoman Jayne Bricker, an individual to be appointed by Mayor Cyndi Baronzzi Dickey to be named at the beginning of the year, and an outside volunteer individual to be confirmed by city council. Both the mayoral appointee and the volunteer would be required to be city residents, and should no suitable volunteer be located Dickey would appoint an alternate which likewise would need to be approved by council.
Stockman stressed that the proposed changes only modify the membership of the board with no other aspects of the ordinance being changed. Stockman also said he would prefer further discussions, specifications or modifications to the ambulance review board and ordinance to fall under the safety committee's remit. The committee voted unanimously to forward the proposed changes to city council for review.