Medical cannabis in Owensboro-Daviess County is growing closer to reality, as the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission on Thursday approved planning and zoning language for how dispensaries and other cannabis-oriented businesses can operate locally.
Both the Owensboro City Commission and the Daviess County Fiscal Court have already voiced support for medical cannabis earlier this year. Discussions have peaked since a statewide rollout plan was introduced that will allow operations to open starting on January 1, 2025.
Municipalities were asked to create planning and zoning codes for the businesses before then to allow applicants to develop plans while applying for the sole license per county in the first phase.
According to the recently approved draft of the Schedule of Zones, which is available in PDF form below, a Medical Cannabis Dispensary (MCD) shall not be located within 1,000 feet of an existing primary or secondary school or daycare for children and cannot be closer than a mile from another approved MCD.
The latter is an added amendment at the local city and county levels. OMPC Associate Director Melissa Evans said that both governmental bodies approved the amendments.
“What you have is exactly what the City and the County have requested to be there,” Evans said.
An MCD is also not permitted to be open in the Downtown Overlay District, viewable in full here and which is generally within the following boundaries:
- Northernmost boundary of the Ohio River
- Southernmost boundary of the railroad tracks on 12th Street
- Easternmost boundary of Bolivar Street
- Westernmost boundary of Poplar Street
Evans added that only one MCD would be allowed for unincorporated areas of Daviess County, meaning Sorgho, Maceo, Utica, and the like. This will not happen during the first phase of the rollout, as the state is only allowing one MCD per county in the initial rollout phase.
Other highlights include that the dispensary cannot be open earlier than 8 a.m. or later than 8 p.m., and an MCD cannot be located at the same site and location used for growing, cultivating, or processing medical cannabis.
All medical cannabis-oriented businesses — MCDs, cultivators, and processors — must have a state-issued license to operate, as outlined in Kentucky State Statutes.
OMPC also approved Article 13, outlining the needed parking practices, and Article 14, the definitions of each Medical Cannabis-oriented business.
