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Westerville Enacts Moratorium On Medical Pot Stores

Westerville City Council this week approved a six-month moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. Some other cities in central Ohio are taking a different course of action. Jim Letizia reports.

Westerville officials say they want time to put new procedures in place to accommodate the businesses. The City of Cleveland this week lifted its moratorium, saying the businesses will create needed tax revenue.  Westerville has joined Bexley, Grove City, Groveport and Hilliard in implementing such moratoriums. The city of Newark is in the process of enacting one. Canal Winchester, Worthington and Pataskala have complete bans on cultivation sites and dispensaries in place, and Dublin and Powell are in the process of following suit. But the City of Columbus says it will try to attract marijuana businesses. The city has approved applications for six businesses. Those businesses must also apply for state cultivator licenses. The city also is working to change zoning codes for where cultivation sites and processors may be located and how Columbus will regulate dispensaries. Locations are likely to be in manufacturing districts. The Mayor and City Council members see the businesses as new sources of tax revenue.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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