Pima County is set to consider changes to zoning regulations for cannabis dispensaries. The changes include opening industrial and commercial zones to potential cannabis cultivation and production sites, according to an April 13 memo County Administrator Jan Lesher sent out that outlines the changes in broad strokes. The memo also said the county would consider opening rural areas for cultivation as well, something prohibited in the city.
Further, the county is considering treating social equity licenses the same as established medical/adult-use dispensaries. That also differs from city rules. The Tucson City Council voted unanimously to determine a special zoning designation for social equity dispensaries, a process that will last six months.
The proposed changes still have a way to go before becoming official, said Chris Poirier, a county planning official. He said the plan is expected to go before the county’s planning and zoning commission be fore the end of May. How soon it gets to the Board of Supervisors depends on public reaction.
Poirier said the county’s strict rules on dispensaries and cultivation/production sites pre-dates the state’s approval of medical cannabis. “We wrote our zoning rules before medical cannabis was even approved by the voters,” Poirier said, referring to passage of Prop. 203 in 2010, which established Arizona’s medical cannabis program. “So there was a lot of concerns, primarily from our county attorney and some of our law enforcement, that this could be fairly unregulated and potentially problematic.”
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"The strict rules are outdated"