Oregon: Dispensaries, car washes, storage facilities on agenda

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Ordinances covering the regulation of marijuana dispensaries, car washes, and personal storage facilities will be on the agenda of Oregon City Council’s Aug. 26 meeting.
Council’s committee of the whole last week approved placing the ordinances on its regular meeting agenda.
The city currently has no zoning regulations for medical and non-medical cannabis dispensaries other than requiring a Special Use Exemption. But with the legalization of the possession and use of marijuana by individuals 21 and older, and the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control poised to issue licenses for dispensary operators by Sept. 7, city council is opting to limit dispensaries to commercial corridors in districts with C-2 and C-5 zoning.
Any dispensaries located adjacent to a residential district must have a minimum six-foot high screen fence along the property line.
“No merchandise or pictures of the products or product use on the premises of a …dispensary shall be displayed on signs, in window areas of any area where they can be viewed from the sidewalk, street, or public way,” the ordinance says. “No sign shall bear any image depicting or describing a marijuana leaf or the combustion of plant material, whether by means of display, decoration, sign, window or any other means unless it is part of the brand logo of the business.”
The Division of Cannabis Control has set criteria for the locations of dispensaries, including they must be one mile apart and not within 500 feet of a school, church, public library or park, playground, or day care center.
State regulations also impose a 10 percent excise tax on dispensary revenues. Thirty-six percent of that is to be split between municipalities and counties.
Joel Mazur, city administrator, said there have been estimates of dispensary tax revenues based on those in business in Michigan that have exceeded $300,000 per store. But he advised council it would be too early to accurately project what a dispensary in Oregon would generate.
Council president Steve Hornyak said one application to locate a dispensary in Oregon has so far been submitted to the state.

Car wash/ personal storage facilities
The city has had a moratorium on car wash facilities, Steve Shrake, building and zoning inspection commissioner, informed council.
“This use was not historically considered in our zoning code,” he said.
Council is considering an ordinance that would amend the city’s municipal code to allow for car washes under certain conditions:
-They must be located at least a half mile from any other car wash.
-They are permitted only within C-1, C-2, C-3, C-4, and C-5 zoning districts.
-They are required to prevent ice formation on the apron and street adjacent to the car wash.
Shrake also told council the city has had a moratorium on personal storage facilities.
That ordinance would also amend the code to read: “A personal storage facility shall not be located within a 5,280-foot radius of another personal storage facility business establishment and are permitted within the M-1 zoning district. This spacing shall apply to a personal storage facility operating pursuant to a Special Use Exemption or operating without such Special Use Exemption, by virtue of having been in operation prior to the requirement to obtain such exemption.”