County commissioner invites comments at medical marijuana ordinance town hall

Clark County residents have a chance on Wednesday to learn more about the county’s proposed ordinance that could lead to medical marijuana dispenseries in Southern Nevada.

County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly is hosting a town hall meeting to discuss medical marijuana issues from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in commission chambers at the County Government Center, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, Las Vegas.

“As my fellow commissioners and I consider how to best deal with medical marijuana businesses coming into our community, I feel it is important to give the public an extra opportunity to share their opinions and concerns on this topic,” Weekly said in a statement.

The ordinance proposal comes following the Nevada Legislature’s passage of a bill in 2013 that permits the sale, cultivation, manufacturing and testing of marijuana for medical purposes.

The state law requires dispensaries to be placed in a commercial or industrial area, but not near schools or parks.

The county’s proposed ordinance includes additional requirements, such as 330-foot setbacks from residential neighborhoods. The conditions could be amended before the county passes anything.

The ordinance would establish four new medical marijuana business license categories in the county: cultivation facilities that grow, deliver and sell marijuana to other medical marijuana establishments; production facilities that produce edible marijuana products and related products; independent testing laboratories that would test the the products; and dispensaries.

The commission has been the only governing agency in the county to react positively to the new law. Assembly Bill 374 authorizes 66 dispensaries in Nevada, 40 of them in Clark County and the major cities in the county. Unincorporated Clark County might end up having as many as 40 of them if the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson don’t pass anything.

Those two cities have issued moratoriums to study the implications, and the cities of Mesquite, North Las Vegas and Boulder City have rejected the concept entirely.

Commissioners introduced the proposed ordinance at a meeting on Wednesday. A public hearing and vote on the ordinance is planned for the March 19 zoning board meeting.

The state will finalize the law’s regulations on April 1. Later in April, if the county ordinance passes, the commission anticipates another meeting to decide which applications for dispenseries are picked.

Contact reporter Ben Botkin at bbotkin @reviewjournal.com or 702-405-9781. Follow him on Twitter @BenBotkin1.