Council Hesitates on Dispensary Rule Change
By Connie Whitlock
Publishing Editor
Pleasant Hill’s rules on where a marijuana dispensary can operate came before the City Council for discussion after city staff said the current restrictions have made it difficult to find a location for a potential dispensary within city limits.
No change was made Monday night, and council members ultimately did not direct staff to draft a new ordinance.
Under Pleasant Hill’s current ordinance, a marijuana facility must be at least 1,000 feet from an elementary or secondary school, state-licensed child day-care center, church and residentially zoned property.
The map below illustrates the current 1,000-foot separation requirement, shown in blue, formarijuana facilities along the Highway 7 corridor. For comparison, the 100-foot separationrequirement for liquor sales is shown in orange. (photo/Pleasant Hill agenda)
According to a memorandum prepared by Assistant City Administrator Nici Wilson and Development Coordinator Missy Gentry, staff has been working with a potential business interested in opening a dispensary in Pleasant Hill. During that process, staff found that the 1,000-foot restrictions leave few potential locations, particularly along the Highway 7 corridor.
City staff presented several options for council consideration: reducing the distance to 700 feet, 500 feet, or 100 feet.
Staff also compared Pleasant Hill’s regulations with surrounding communities. Belton requires 500 feet of separation from schools, day-care centers and churches, while Raymore also uses 500 feet and requires 100 feet from residential property. Harrisonville and Lee’s Summit maintain 1,000-foot requirements.
Option 2 – 500-Foot Separation, Reduce the required separation distance from 1,000 feet to 500 feet from an elementary orsecondary school, state-licensed child day-care center, or church.The 500-foot area is shown in green on the accompanying map. This option would provide thegreatest increase in potential locations and would be consistent with the separation distancecurrently used by Belton and Raymore.Option 3 – 100-Foot SeparationReduce the required separation distance and make it consistent with the separation distance ofalcohol sales. This is shown in orange on the first map. (photo/Pleasant Hill agenda)
Pleasant Hill currently requires 1,000 feet from schools, daycares, churches, and residentially zoned property.
City officials emphasized that the maps provided to council were intended as general illustrations. Actual distances for a proposed dispensary would have to be calculated under state law and along the lawful pedestrian route between properties, rather than simply drawing a radius around a location.
The discussion also brought up another possibility: the council would not necessarily have to apply the same distance to every type of property. Staff told council members they could establish different requirements for schools, churches, day-care centers and residential areas.
One council member expressed reluctance to reduce the separation from schools, day cares and churches but appeared more open to reconsidering the 1,000-foot residential restriction.
The potential financial impact also came up in the discussion. Staff said the city could potentially receive an estimated $150,000 annually in sales tax revenue from a dispensary. Pleasant Hill voters previously approved an additional 3 percent local sales tax on recreational marijuana, which would be collected in addition to the city’s existing sales tax.
But several council members and residents questioned whether potential revenue should be the deciding factor. “I think part of the question is that we can’t look at it just dollars and cents as to what it can bring us, even though I think the potential is phenomenal,” Councilwoman Pat Niner said. “I think we have to look at, what do we want Pleasant Hill to be known for? What does it do for Pleasant Hill? Does it increase our value?”
At the same time, council members acknowledged that marijuana is already legal in Missouri and that a dispensary could locate in Pleasant Hill under the existing ordinance if a property meeting all of the requirements can be found. “If somebody finds a location that meets that criteria, it’s coming,” Niner said.
The potential operators attending the meeting told the council they currently have dispensary locations in Cass County. They said their businesses have not created problems for local police departments and pointed to extensive state security requirements, including surveillance cameras covering the buildings and surrounding areas.
They also told the council they are considering a couple of possible Pleasant Hill locations, including the former A-1 Liquor location and another site by the Creamery.
The discussion drew opposition from several members of the public. Attorney Ed Clemmons, who said he has spent approximately 14 or 15 years working as a defense attorney with Cass County Drug Court, urged the council not to make marijuana more accessible. He said marijuana was frequently the first drug used by people he had encountered through drug court and argued that the city should not make changes that could make access easier for young people.
The potential tax revenue also prompted local lawyer Ed Clemons to put the numbers into perspective. With staff estimating that a dispensary could generate approximately $150,000 a year in city sales tax revenue, Clemons calculated how much marijuana would have to be sold to produce that amount. “$2.6 million. Wow. If I did it right … $2.6 million in one year of marijuana sold in the city,” he said. The figure represents estimated marijuana sales, not tax revenue, and Clemons’ calculation underscored the volume of sales that would be needed to generate the projected $150,000 for the city.
J.R. Brown, who said he represented the pastoral staff of Echo Church and spoke in agreement with several other area pastors, urged the council to retain the existing restrictions. He said, “Reducing the distance requirement could eventually allow dispensaries to become just as concentrated as our liquor stores… potentially putting one in every strip mall along 7 Highway.”
Another resident spoke emotionally about watching someone close to him struggle with marijuana use and mental health issues.
“I respectfully request that the council consider what this does to the kids of our small town,” he said.
He acknowledged marijuana can have medicinal uses but questioned whether the financial benefit justified changing Pleasant Hill’s restrictions. “Is this about the people, or is this about the money?” he asked.
Another resident told the council she had dealt with a son’s drug problem when he was a teenager and had lost three people to drug overdoses in the past year and a half. She said she did not support bringing a dispensary into Pleasant Hill.
A member of Echo Church also spoke against loosening the restrictions, arguing that Pleasant Hill should think carefully about what kind of community it wants to be and whether treating marijuana dispensaries similarly to liquor stores would be good for the city.
Council members, however, also heard that dispensaries are heavily regulated by the state. When asked whether a dispensary would create an additional burden for the Pleasant Hill Police Department, Chief Kleyh’s response was that there was not expected to be a significant impact. State requirements govern much of the sale, manufacture, distribution, and security of marijuana facilities, while the city would enforce its own ordinances along with applicable state law.
By the end of the discussion, there did not appear to be enough support on the council to direct staff to prepare an ordinance reducing the distances. When staff asked whether council wanted an ordinance drafted and brought back for consideration, the immediate response was, “Not at this point.” Councilwoman Niner summed up the difficulty of the issue by saying they were in a “conundrum.” “I know it’s here. I know it’s coming,” the council member said, while returning to the question of what Pleasant Hill wants to be as a community. The council member also acknowledged the city’s need to expand its revenue base but concluded, “I’m not ready to make that change.”
For now, Pleasant Hill’s existing 1,000-foot restrictions remain in place.