Regulations Would Be In Place Just In Case Store Applies
Cannabis retail businesses will be a topic of discussion for the Lexington Planning Commission over the next several months as the city determines what regulations, if any, it can implement on any such business should one seek to come to the city.
During its meeting last week, the Planning Commission held a preliminary discussion about the process and what sort of things it might like to implement if permitted. City planner Arne Glaeser told the Commission that he was planning to speak with City Attorney Jeremy Carroll to further clarify some details regarding the legislation that was passed earlier this year as part of the budget legislation.
Under the state law, cannabis retail sales will be permitted in Virginia beginning July 1, 2027. Regulations for the sales have been drafted and are being reviewed by the Cannabis Public Health Advisory Council. The planned timeline is for the review to be completed in December and finalized before the first of the year. Applications for retail business licenses will open on Feb. 1, 2027, with the first licenses being issued in May. As with the state’s ABC stores, there will be a limited number of licenses available – 350 in the case of cannabis retail stores – and they will be distributed based on population density.
The Lexington Planning Commission set a goal of having an ordinance of some kind in place by the time applications open in February, even suggesting holding a joint public hearing with Lexington City Council on the ordinance to help expedite the process.
“I think it’s a good idea, if we can, to have something in place for February first in case somebody wants to come here,” Glaeser told the Planning Commission. “Then there’s something on the books for the Cannabis Control Authority to see what we have and then potentially deny if it doesn’t meet our code.”
The legislation that was passed earlier this year does specifically allow localities to set hours of operation for cannabis retail businesses, as well as permitting them to adjust the distance allowed between such businesses and schools, universities, hospitals, and daycare programs. The one caveat on the distances is that they cannot be made greater than those allowed by the state regulatory board, only lowered. Localities can also set the rate at which sales at such businesses can be taxed at between 1 percent and 3.5 percent, though that specific decision would not be made by the Planning Commission.
Beyond that, what regulations a locality can set is left somewhat vague by the language of the current state law. The code permits localities “to adopt and enforce local ordinances” to regulate cannabis retail businesses, “including local zoning and land use requirements and business license requirements,” but doesn’t offer much else in the way of guidance on how much regulation would be allowed before it would become too restrictive.
One idea that was suggested by the Planning Commission was letting cannabis retail businesses be a by-right use in the city’s C-2 zoning districts (the entrance corridors along West Nelson and South Main streets), but a conditional use in the historic downtown C-1 zoning district.
Whether that would be too restrictive per the state law is one of the questions that the city attorney will have to answer before things proceed.
