INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — With the defeat of Amendment 2 in the General Election, the Board of County Commissioners will not press forward with proposed changes to development rules that would have allowed medical marijuana facilities in certain areas of the county.
Amendment 2 failed to garner the 60 percent approval state-wide that it needed.
Commissioners set a second and final public hearing on the proposed Land Development Regulations for Nov. 18 at 5:01 p.m.
Now that the amendment failed, the Commission will hold the hearing as scheduled, announce the amendment’s defeat and is expected to rescind the proposed the changes.
Nov. 4, 1:01 p.m.
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Board of County Commissioners Tuesday cleared the first of two hurdles to enact rules governing where medical marijuana dispensaries can be placed in the event Amendment 2 passes in today’s General Election.
The first of two public hearings netted comments from two members of the public, resident Bob Johnson, who voiced concerns about traffic patterns at the identified potential sites for such treatment centers and support from Robin Dapp, of the Substance Awareness Center of Indian River County.
Dapp thanked Commissioners for taking a proactive role in establishing guidelines for the potential of medical marijuana facilities in the county.
Commission Chair Peter O’Bryan told the audience that, speaking for the entire Board, they are not at all supportive of Amendment 2 but feel the need to be prepared in the event the measure is voter-approved.
If approved, it will take the State Legislature time to craft its own rules for regulating medical marijuana.
Under the proposed Land Development Regulations, which will go to a final public hearing at 5:01 p.m. Nov. 18, medical marijuana facilities will be allowed in certain industrial-zoned areas. Such zones will not include Gifford or those near Interstate 95. The rules prohibit the facilities be located west of 66th Avenue.
There will also be separation requirements facilities would need to maintain from each other, homes, schools, licensed day care facilities, churches, and other such establishments.
Medical marijuana facilities would not be allowed to have drive-thru services, nor on-site consumption or cultivation.
Hours of operation would be limited and the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office would review security practices.
Even still, potential medical marijuana facilities would have to undergo administrative permit review prior to approval.
Given the proposed Land Development Regulations, Community Development Director Stan Boling identified only a couple locations where such facilities could be established:
• Two parcels adjacent to the FEC railroad and several hundred feet east of Old Dixie Highway near the terminus of 9th Place.
• One potential parcel abutting the FEC railroad several hundred feet north of 12th Street currently owned by the City of Vero Beach.
For its part, the Vero Beach City Council Tuesday unanimously passed its own medical marijuana ordinance outlining where such dispensaries could be located within the City’s limits.
City Attorney Wayne Coment told the Council that staff was careful to craft the language so as to be enforceable. He added that the rules regulate the facilities without prohibiting the use altogether.
As for the County’s second public hearing, in the event Amendment 2 fails, the hearing will be held to announce the results of the election and the proposed Land Development Regulations will be scrapped.