Mansfield City Council delays cannabis dispensary vote due to missing members

MANSFIELD — The preparation was perfect Tuesday night for the vote on a proposed six-month moratorium on any potential recreational marijuana dispensaries in Mansfield.

— There was a lengthy safety committee meeting, during which a representative of The Cannabist Co. said such a facility could add $4.3 million in revenue to city coffers over the next 10 coming years.

— There was public participation, with speakers for and against the moratorium.

— There were questions from local lawmakers, approval regarding potential earnings from Chief Financial Officer Kelly Blankenship and concerns raised by Police Chief Jason Bammann.

The stage was set – for a vote that never happened.

Citing the absence of Councilwoman-at-Large Stephanie Zader and Council President Phil Scott, who were both on vacation, local lawmakers voted to postpone the vote until its next meeting on June 18.

Zader is the only council member who spoke in public session in favor of the economic benefits of a dispensary in Mansfield.

5th Ward Councilman Aurelio Diaz suggested delaying the vote on the topic, which was introduced by Mayor Jodie Perry on April 16.

“I know everyone is waiting for us to vote on this,” said Diaz, who said he recently visited an out-of-state recreational cannabis dispensary to see its operations. “I really feel like with two city councilors leaving, I personally would like to see this delayed, unfortunately.

“I feel like they have a lot of perspectives and people they've talked to (over the) last few months. I think we should honor the fact that they are not here and consider their votes going forward,” Diaz said.

Scott would only vote in the event of a tie among the eight other council members, which is not impossible on a council that appears divided on the issue.

2nd Ward Councilwoman Cheryl Meier, chair of the safety committee, said she agreed and made the motion to delay the vote.

The Council then voted 6-1 in favor of postponement. The only dissenting vote came from Councilor-at-large David Falquette, who was replacing Scott as acting president at the meeting.

All of this activity comes after 57 percent of Ohio voters approved the state's No. 2 vote in November.

This was a citizen petition allowing local cannabis cultivation, but also giving local governments the right to decide for themselves whether or not to allow recreational marijuana dispensaries in their communities.

In this case, most, but not all, council members have kept their own views on a local cannabis store close to the vest since the bill was brought up in caucus on April 16.

It seems clear, after watching the council discuss the proposed moratorium, that a recreational dispensary has a better chance of being approved by these lawmakers than a medical cannabis dispensary that a previous Mansfield City Council rejected 6-1 in November 2017.

Certainly, officials at The Cannabist Co. hope lawmakers will give them the option to apply for a state license to open a facility in Mansfield.

(Below is a PDF of a presentation by The Cannabist Co. to the Mansfield City Council Tuesday evening.)

Mallory McCarthy, vice president of operations management at Cannabist, and Amanda Ostrowitz, attorney and managing partner of Slap Consulting, both attended the meeting Tuesday.

The Cannbist Co. operates in 15 U.S. jurisdictions with 123 facilities, including 92 dispensaries and 31 cultivation and manufacturing operations, including those under development.

It currently has five medical cannabis dispensaries in Ohio.

Ostrowitz said Keri Stan, Ohio and Illinois district director for The Cannabist Co. (formerly Columbia Care), underestimated the potential revenue for the city when she said Richland Spring the company estimates that annual sales in a community the size of Mansfield would be between $5 million and $7 million.

She said Stan runs medical dispensaries and hasn't considered all the retail opportunities a recreational cannabis store can offer.

“So we did a much more robust analysis looking at the area in general and we think a store here will generate between $700,000 and $1 million in revenue per month,” Ostrowitz said.

Based on these sales estimates, with the city receiving 36 percent of the state's 10 percent excise tax on cannabis dispensaries, the city would receive between $300,000 and $432,000 per year in new tax revenues.

“Over a decade, that’s $4.3 million,” Ostrowitz said.

Like Stan, Ostrowitz said the company's medical cannabis dispensaries are safe and secure and do not create crime problems in the cities in which they operate.

Ostrowitz said at the meeting that a six-month moratorium would amount to a “ban” on a dispensary in Mansfield.

After the council's decision to delay the vote, Ostrowitz said the delay would limit its efforts in this area, but would not pose an obstacle if lawmakers rejected the moratorium at their next meeting.

Blankenship urged the council to consider the economic benefits of a dispensary.

“I would like to remind the board that if we lose this opportunity, we will lose excise tax revenue, as well as corporate net income tax and employee income tax withholdings.” , she said.

“We are currently looking at a revenue situation that puts us in a lower position than last year. We've had a $3 million year-over-year increase over the last three years.

“It's gone. We're not going to see that happen this year. So from an economic standpoint, it's very important for our community,” the CFO said.

Bammann said he was not present to lobby for or against the moratorium, although he cited studies in Colorado that showed an increase in property crimes after marijuana was legalized there. Status in 2013.

“This is new territory for all of us. For all of us in law enforcement, the safety of the community is what is of the utmost importance to us.

“As law enforcement officers, our job is to uphold the laws…it’s in our oath…here in the state of Ohio.”

“So no matter what some people think about marijuana, it doesn't apply to us. We will respect the law. The voters voted for this,” Bammann said.

“That's where I would ask the council, if you choose to put these dispensaries in our community, to take the time to make sure that there are laws and codes in place, to take the time to consider the location (of the dispensary).

“Traditionally we find that communities bring them in, but they hide them in alleys, they hide them off the beaten path, in places that set up facilities for crime, and almost kind of invite them in,” the chief says of the police.

“I think what we're looking at doing in downtown Mansfield, I don't think building a dispensary there would be a good idea,” he said.