The Hot Springs Board of Directors unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday night supporting medical marijuana enterprises coming to the corporate limits after imposing a moratorium last month.
District 4 Director Larry Williams, the resolution's sponsor, said the pause the board adopted in June on issuing business licenses and permits to medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation facilities sent the wrong message. The board lifted it at last week's special-called meeting.
"The reporter referred to this several times as a ban; that we had lifted our ban," Williams told the board, referring to a TV station's characterization of the moratorium during an interview it aired with City Attorney Brian Albright. "I think we gave the wrong impression, unintentionally, of what we were trying to do."
The moratorium was in response to the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016, or Amendment 98. The citizen-initiated amendment makes the regulated medical use of marijuana legal under state law. The state began accepting applications for dispensary and cultivation licenses earlier this month.
Amendment 98 prohibits local governments from enacting ordinances that would keep dispensaries and cultivation facilities from operating in their jurisdictions, but the board said it effected the moratorium over concerns the city's application process would conflict with state rules.
It repealed the enabling ordinance last week, explaining that the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission's promulgation last month of final rules implementing the law made the moratorium unnecessary.
The city said Tuesday's resolution serves to counter impressions Hot Springs is unwelcoming to the new enterprise. Data from the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement shows 25,537 Garland County residents have a condition that qualifies for medical marijuana treatment.
"This support resolution is an effort to eliminate any type of perception whereby the city of Hot Springs would appear to be unfavorable in the way of these type of facilities," Assistant City Manager/City Clerk Lance Spicer told the board before the vote. "This resolution supports lawful medical marijuana facilities, which are obviously coming to the state in the relatively near future."
The board amended the resolution to indicate its support for charging the facilities "market competitive fees for construction and operation." Introduced by District 6 Director Randy Fale, the amendment follows the Texarkana city board's adoption of fees earlier this week charging medical marijuana enterprises a premium for business licenses.
Cultivation facilities in Texarkana are subject to a $50,000 initial licensing fee and a $50,000 annual renewal fee. Dispensaries will initially be charged $7,500 for a license and $11,250 for an annual renewal. That's in addition to the state's $100,000 annual fee for cultivation facilities and $22,500 yearly fee for dispensaries, according to Medical Marijuana Commission rules.
"I don't want to leave the impression that because we're welcoming these into our community that it goes without fees," Fale told the board. "We have an opportunity to collect some fees, because I would imagine we are going to have some city work that applies to these areas, specifically police areas."
Williams voted against the amendment, saying the intent to impose fees on the businesses would be better expressed separately. Williams said his resolution was modeled after a similar one recently adopted in Eureka Springs.
"This is just a generic resolution," he told Fale. "I think you're trying to do too much with your amendment."
Local on 07/20/2017