During a special meeting last night, the Mitchell City Council approved the second reading of an amendment of the city’s zoning regulations for cannabis establishments. The initial zoning regulations included right-of-ways, which created some unintended consequences. “It’s property line to property line,” said City Planner Mark Jenniges . He added that the two changes would be adjusting from Title 9 to Title 10 in the ordinance and excluding public right-of-ways.
Mitchell resident Nick Kummer spoke against the changes. Kummer owns land on Juniper Avenue near one of the proposed cannabis establishments. He noted the negative effects that such establishments have on adjacent land uses. Kummer, who is a practicing architectural designer, added that changing the code to include the right-of-way as part of the distance measurements between property lines is consistent with industry standards. He added that amending the ordinance to make the measurements from door-to-door does not make sense, would require more oversight, and may not be feasible.
Two medical cannabis establishments have been approved. Three other dispensaries passed background checks, but requested variances. Those requests led to the amendment of the original ordinance.