Euclid gives preliminary OK for two medical marijuana dispensaries to open

Oct. 24—Euclid City Council recently approved an amendment to the city's codes that would allow for medical marijuana dispensaries to be granted conditional use permits to operate in certain districts of the city.

Specifically, council granted preliminary approval to two applicants — Lighthouse Sciences and Good River Wellness, LLC — that would like to open and operate two separate medical marijuana dispensaries in Euclid. Their decision followed approval by the planning and zoning commission.

The potential Lighthouse Sciences facility would be located on Lakeland Boulevard, in the U-6-Industrial and Manufacturing district, while Good River Wellness, LLC, would be in the U-4-Local Retail or Wholesale Store district on Euclid Avenue.

However, whether the new dispensaries can open or not is up to state and county officials. Euclid Law Director Kelley Sweeney clarified at the council's Oct. 18 meeting that both dispensaries must be approved and selected by the state in order to operate, as there is a limit of seven new licenses to be granted for dispensaries in Cuyahoga County.

"Both of these are hypothetical at this point, they may need this information for their application with the state," she said. "Applications are due Nov. 4, so they're getting their ducks in a row, by applying to P&Z (Planning and Zoning), and then coming here. They still have to be granted licenses by the state."

"They may be approved, and they may not," Councilwoman Stephana Caviness added. "We may get one, we may get two, we may get none."

When the ordinance to amend the city's codes passed through planning and zoning on Oct. 12, the commission recommended that council follow the precedent set by state codes that do not allow a dispensary to operate within 500 feet of specific other facilities, like senior residential facilities or other community-based organizations.

Sweeney pointed out that the commission suggested this because Euclid's code was actually stricter than the state code.

"Originally, we had drafted that dispensaries could not be within 1,000 feet of a school, a church, a library, 1,000 feet of another dispensary, or 1,000 feet from a community addiction service provider, family home or residential facility family home," Sweeney said.

Several council members agreed that they felt more comfortable with the original 1,000-foot rules, and voted unanimously to keep it in place if the dispensaries were to open.