DELAWARE - House Majority Whip Ed Osienski issued a statement regarding the General Assembly passing Senate Bill 75, which limits the zoning restrictions counties can impose on marijuana businesses.
“When we passed legislation legalizing adult use cannabis in 2023, we intended to create a tightly regulated, but accessible market that balanced public health, safety, and business opportunity,” Osienski said in a statement. “Unfortunately, our counties have imposed zoning restrictions so severe that they undermine the law’s intent and effectively ban legal cannabis operations completely.”
Osienski said the bill places reasonable limits on county zoning rules while still allowing local governments to shield sensitive areas such as schools, daycares and places of worship.
“I want to be clear that this bill will not cause communities to be flooded with cannabis shops, there are only 30 retail licenses total,” Osienski said. “To put that in perspective, we have more than 300 liquor stores across the state.”
According to the Delaware General Assembly:
- A medical marijuana compassion center that was granted a conversion license for a retail marijuana store must be allowed to operate the retail store as a nonconforming use.
A building permit cannot be denied to a licensee if the improvements comply with physical requirements for property zoned for that use.
Counties must allow minimum hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays.
In agricultural or industrial zones, indoor, fully enclosed cultivation facilities may not be prohibited.
In commercial or industrial zones, retail marijuana stores may only be restricted if they are within a half-mile of another marijuana store or within 500 feet of a place of worship, school, licensed child care, residential treatment facility, park, or library.