PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — A proposed Calvert County zoning change that would add a 100-foot setback requirement for cannabis dispensaries is moving forward after receiving a recommendation from the Planning Commission.
The Calvert County Planning Commission voted during its June 17 public hearing to recommend adoption of Text Amendment 26-22, which would add the setback requirement to the county’s zoning rules for general retail dispensaries.
Under the proposal, dispensaries would have to be set back at least 100 feet from residential districts, rural community districts, rural neighborhood districts, waterfront community districts and farm and forest districts. The setback would also apply to infrastructure supporting the use, including parking areas.
County staff told the Planning Commission that dispensaries are currently permitted wherever general retail is allowed, including rural commercial districts and town centers. Staff noted that state law already includes other setback requirements for dispensaries, including separation from schools, but those requirements apply regardless of whether they are repeated in the county ordinance.
During questioning, a commissioner asked whether similar setback rules exist for beer, wine or liquor businesses, or for other retail-specific industries. Staff responded that no additional enhanced setback applies to those businesses.
County staff also told the commission the state limits what additional zoning regulations local governments can place on dispensaries. The 100-foot setback is the maximum local setback allowed under state law, and staff described it as the only additional requirement the county can impose above state law.
No public comments were submitted during the hearing, and the Planning Commission voted to close the record and recommend adoption of the proposed text amendment by the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners.
The Board of County Commissioners has final authority over zoning text amendments.
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Liquor stores will now makeup 2x locations at every shopping center. Which is totally okay because liquor stores are wonderful and marijuana is the devils lettuce lol. One kills more
Americans than almost anything else, the other has never been shown to be all that bad after all.