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WILKES-BARRE TWP. — The interest is already there, but not a local ordinance governing where a medical marijuana facility can set up shop.
Next Monday Wilkes-Barre Township council will meet and vote on legislation modeled after what was adopted in other municipalities in anticipation of companies applying for state licenses to either grow, process or dispense medical marijuana.
Township Solicitor Bruce Phillips described the ordinance as a proactive step in light of the one or two inquiries made to date. A limited number of permits will be issued following the Feb. 20 to March 20 application period.
The state controls the licensing, leaving location up to the municipalities, Phillips said Tuesday.
“The only say the township has is where to put it,” Phillips said.
“If you don’t, theoretically they could put it anywhere,” he said.
There has been interest locally in setting up permitted facilities after Gov. Tom Wolf signed the state’s medical marijuana program into law last April. The program that’s expected to be fully implemented by 2018 allows the use of the controlled substance by state residents under the care of a doctor for a serious medical condition.
In mid-January residents in neighboring Laurel Run attended a council meeting with questions about a medical marijuana growing operation proposed by Bright Star Bio Medics for a 200-acre site. No formal plans had been presented to council and Solicitor Stephen Menn limited the public discussion.
The pending ordinance in Wilkes-Barre Township distinguishes between growers/processors of medical marijuana and dispensaries and assigns them to specifically zoned areas. Permitted growers/processors are restricted to industrial and heavy industrial districts. Likewise, permitted dispensaries can operate only in a general commercial district.
None of them is allowed in a residential zone. Furthermore, a facility must be a minimum of 1,000 feet from a daycare center, public, private and parochial schools and the same minimum distance from a residential district.
Other restrictions on permitted facilities include:
• A minimum 100-foot setback plus another separation of 25 feet for a vegetative buffer between the facility and any permitted residential use.
• A fence not less than 8 feet high and constructed with industry standard materials shall surround the facility. Barbed wire may be used if state or federal regulations call for it.
• No storage of any form of marijuana or its byproducts outside the facility.
• No discharge of odor, fumes, dust, smoke or other noxious pollutants from the facility in excess of state or federal regulations.
The ordinance will go into effect immediately after its enacted. Phillips acknowledged it is based on what was passed elsewhere in the state and said he doesn’t think it will be challenged as too restrictive.