Danbury Marches Toward Marijuana Businesses

Danbury CT

15 June, 2022

10:33 AM

Description

DANBURY, CT — Cannabis enterpreneurs looking to set up shop in Danbury may have to wait another year as the city looks to fine-tune proposed zoning regulations dealing with the newly legal recreational commodity. But town zoning officials could finalize Danbury's pot rules much sooner than that. Danbury Planning Director Sharon B. Calitro submitted two separate petitions last month to city land-use boards regarding cannabis-related establishments in the city. One is a request to extend a Danbury Zoning Commission-approved moratorium on recreational pot-based business applications to July 2023. The other petition is a series of proposed regulation revisions related to when, where and what types of cannabis operations would be permitted in the city. Those regulations will be the subject of a DZC public hearing Tuesday, July 12, after which the full board could vote on and adopt Danbury marijuana regulations for the city. The cannabis petitions were on the agenda of Tuesday's brief virtual zoning commission meeting, but no action was taken and no discussions happened. The Danbury Planning Commission meets virtually tonight to discuss and possibly make a recommendation to the zoning board, though final approval of the pot regulations is up to the DZC. The planning meeting is at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. As for the moratorium extension, that is only applicable if the zoning board doesn't take action prior to July 29, the date the initial moratorium was supposed to lapse. The extension would, simply, buy more time for city zoning board members to finalize the regulations. Those regulations, meanwhile, feature detailed specifics about where and when cannabis establishments could go, according to Calitro's petition. For example: • Pot businesses would not be able to be located in any residential facilities. • They would not be allowed on property abutting any portion of Main Street (Route 53). • Drive-through cannabis sales are not allowed. • Separate legal marijuana businesses cannot be within 1 mile of each other. • There are several distance requirements between pot businesses and schools, parks, recreation areas, school bus stops, colleges or universities and residential zoning districts.Generally, the distance required for all those is 1,000 feet, according to the latest regulation draft. • The hours of operations cannot exceed 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays. The zoning board has the authority to revise any or all components of the regulations, so none of these proposed revisions are finalized until the regulations are approved. The latest cannabis regulations draft deletes all references to medical marijuana, since all forms of pot are, now, legal in Connecticut. "The amendments related to adult use cannabis, and restrictions thereof, are necessary to protect the public health, welfare and safety," wrote Calitro. For the full text of the moratorium extension petition, click on this link. For the full text of the Danbury cannabis regulations draft, click on this link. For the July 15 Danbury Planning Commission meeting agenda, click on this link.