Since late May, trustees in Harlan, Union and Turtlecreek townships voted to prohibit cultivation, as well as the processing and dispensing of medical marijuana, as Ohio moves forward with legalization through the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program.
“We didn’t see any taxable economic advantage to the township,” Turtlecreek Twp. Trustee Dan Jones said Wednesday. “At this point, we didn’t seen any need to have it in our township.”
The prohibitions came after the county zoning supervisor accepted an application in May for cultivation on land in Union Twp., between Lebanon and Mason.
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A second applicant was looking at land in Harlan Twp. in the southwest corner of the county, according to Mike Yetter, zoning supervisor in Warren County.
Both applications were rejected.
“They just got caught up in technicalities,” Yetter said this week.
Harlan, Turtlecreek and Union townships are under the jurisdiction of county zoning rules.
Still the prohibiting resolutions are expected to block successful applications within their limits, although the county cannot prohibit the cultivation or processing, as they are exempted agricultural uses, said Assistant County Prosecutor Bruce McGary.
Distribution of medical marijuana would be handled as a commercial use, subject to county regulations, according to McGary.
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Yetter said he would still accept zoning applications. This approval is part of what is needed by state applicants.
The prohibition resolutions, passed under provisions of state law that created the state program, signaled a change in perspective.
“We don’t have any choice. The law says we can’t do anything it,” Harlan Twp. Administrator Andy Mitten said last month.
Yet on June 7, the Harlan Twp. trustees unanimously approved a resolution stating that the state medical marijuana law “delegated authority to townships to regulate medical marijuana facilities.”
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On Friday, the state is expected to provide data on applicants for as many as 12 small-scale cultivation licenses. By September 2018, the state is to award up to 24 licenses for small- and large-scale cultivation sites.
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Elsewhere in Warren County, local governments are taking different stances.
Earlier this month, Springboro extended its moratorium and is moving toward prohibition. Franklin also has declared a moratorium.
Outside city limits, Clearcreek Twp. trustees are moving toward prohibition as well.
But on Tuesday in Carlisle, the local council rescinded a portion of its moratorium to allow a cultivation facility in the village business park.
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“We adopted the moratorium so we could be in control of the process,” Councilman Brad McIntosh said. “I don’t rush into anything. I’ve done my research and, if this was bad, I wouldn’t support it.”
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