Delaware’s largest city will decide whether to welcome a marijuana business or two — maybe three — in the coming weeks as the state prepares for its future with recreational marijuana.
A special meeting of the Wilmington City Planning Commission Tuesday night reinstated the ordinance for marijuana cultivation, production, testing or retail locations to be at least 100 feet from a K-12 school or residential area. To prevent overcrowding, the state-mandated 1,200-foot limit between same-type marijuana businesses was doubled in this order to nearly a half-mile, or 2,600 feet.
It also requires these businesses to have a special exemption to operate in a C-2 or C-2A zone, designated as a “Secondary Business Center,” according to the city’s zoning map. The amendment was approved by a 4-2 vote.
Overall, the buffers create space for a very small number of businesses in the city, as one member of the public who owned a local medical marijuana business pointed out. Commission chairman Anthony Hill agreed.
“Functionally, they’re looking at two possible locations citywide, and maybe three, depending on some specifics when we consider the amount of space that … needs to be between each one,” he said.
The 100-foot buffer was the first version presented to the planning commission, but was changed to 300 feet after the last planning meeting. Now, it’s back to 100 feet and will be voted on by the Community Development and Urban Planning Committee on Wednesday, Oct. 23, to decide whether it will go to City Council.
Tanya Washington, chief of staff to Mayor Mike Purzycki’s office and a member of the City Planning Committee, introduced the new version of the amendment, which was an unwelcome compromise for many members of the public in attendance who wanted the buffer to stay at 300 foot. with some calling for an expansion to 500 feet.
Wilmington Finance Director J. Brett Taylor approved the amendment.
The ordinance allows businesses to operate in commercial, manufacturing and waterfront areas. According to the city’s current zoning map, downtown Wilmington, the Water District and areas east toward the Delaware River make up most of those areas.
The recreational use of marijuana in Delaware was legalized in 2023. The legalization was approved by Governor John Carney, who did not sign it, but instead let it pass into law without his signature. Carney is expected to take over as Wilmington’s next mayor after the general election in November.
The public, some council members still worried about legal weed
More than 20 people packed the City Council Committee Chamber Tuesday night. City Council members Nathan Field, James Spadola, Chris Johnson and Zanthia Oliver joined amendment sponsor Maria Cabrera in the chamber despite not being on the committee. Council member Latisha Bracy joined Zoom.
Of the people who appeared for the meeting’s public comment, many opposed the thinner buffer, citing effects on schools, public health and overall quality of life. Specifically, many people were concerned about exposure to marijuana through those who smoked it in public.
While committee chairman Anthony Hill’s request that public comment be related to zoning was largely honored, some comments addressed the broader topic of marijuana use in the city.
“They are children in our area. There are senior citizens in our area and we don’t want them exposed to it,” Zakiya Minkah said at the meeting.
Minkah’s comments struck a chord with most of the public comments shared on Tuesday. Another concern of the public and some council members was the timing of these changes and concerns that the city was rushing into decision-making.
“You’re asking council members for their thoughts on the proposal that we just heard about five minutes ago, a complicated proposal,” said council member Nathan Field.
At the meeting, Wilmington Deputy Director of Economic Development Sean Park said the 300-foot buffer “effectively eliminates” places where businesses with social equity licenses can operate. Equity licenses are for applicants who live in census tracts that the state has determined have been disproportionately affected by past enforcement of harmful drug laws.
He said these restrictions could attract national and regional chains instead of small businesses.
“After researching the commercial listings currently available on the market, the 300-foot buffer would eliminate all current listings for available commercial space and disproportionately affected areas, except downtown Wilmington, and an indirect effect of concentrating the operations of future retail in a city center where rents are higher on average,” he said.
What the City Council makes of the proposal will come down to a Nov. 7 meeting if the new amendment with the old 100-foot buffer escapes Wednesday’s committee meeting.
Wilmington joins Newark in allowing, but limiting, legal weed businesses
Wilmington is taking a similar approach to marijuana as other governments in Delaware.
Under state law, counties can’t ban businesses outright, but municipalities can.
In August, Newark created 300-foot buffer zones between businesses and residential areas and schools. It also changed the zoning of an area with an existing medical marijuana facility near downtown Newark and another area near the Maryland border.
The 300-foot buffer is less restrictive in Newark because it is less populated outside the University of Delaware campus and downtown areas.
New Castle County does not yet have any restrictions on the books, but legislation has been introduced.
These restrictions may be strict, but they are not on par with other municipalities in Delaware. Lewes, Rehoboth Beach and Bethany Beach are among the Sussex County municipalities that shut down businesses altogether.
Sussex County clamped down on the industry by barring marijuana businesses from opening within 3 miles of a municipal boundary, school, church, day care, college, substance abuse treatment facility or retail sale of marijuana. These limitations make it nearly impossible to open one in a financially viable location.
Weed License Lotteries:Over 800 applications are vying for Delaware’s 30 retail marijuana licenses
Weed license lotteries on the horizon
The first licenses will be awarded by lottery on Wednesday, October 24. Other lotteries will follow in 2024 and early 2025. The large number of applications for retail licenses led to a separate, retail-only lottery to be held later in 2024.
The special lottery prompted Washington to seek swift regulatory action before the city could accept applications to open these businesses.
“It was mentioned that we had enough time to really discuss this issue, to make a decision,” Washington said. “According to the Office of Marijuana, retail licenses will be issued by December, so there is no luxury of time.”
The state expects the first businesses to open their doors in April 2025. However, it could be a while before dispensaries open around Delaware. It has to be a domestic industry because transporting marijuana across state lines is illegal.
(This story was updated to add a map of the areas.)