Cannabis Title 5 Update

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Consultation has concluded

UPDATE: On August 8, 2022 City Council approved the amendments to Title 5.

DESCRIPTION:

In May 2021 the Montana State Legislature passed House Bill 701 (HB-701) in response to the citizen-initiated legalization of recreational cannabis. In November 2021 the Missoula City Council approved an ordinance generally amending Title 20 Zoning Code to accommodate the State’s newly introduced and amended cannabis business types. During the public process for the Title 20 amendments, the Missoula Consolidated Planning Board and City Council expressed interest in regulating energy consumption at cannabis cultivation operations. On November 29, 2021, City Council voted to direct staff in

UPDATE: On August 8, 2022 City Council approved the amendments to Title 5.

DESCRIPTION:

In May 2021 the Montana State Legislature passed House Bill 701 (HB-701) in response to the citizen-initiated legalization of recreational cannabis. In November 2021 the Missoula City Council approved an ordinance generally amending Title 20 Zoning Code to accommodate the State’s newly introduced and amended cannabis business types. During the public process for the Title 20 amendments, the Missoula Consolidated Planning Board and City Council expressed interest in regulating energy consumption at cannabis cultivation operations. On November 29, 2021, City Council voted to direct staff in the Community Planning, Development and Innovation Department to begin amendments to Title 5, the Business Licenses and Regulations Code, to address and mitigate the impacts of high energy consumption at cultivation operations.

During the research period, staff met with the Montana State Building and Commercial Measurements Bureau. Staff were made aware of state law constraints around energy regulations. Montana Code Annotated Section 50-60-102(6) requires local energy conservation standards that exceed the energy conservation standards contained in the state building code to be voluntary and incentive-based. For this reason, staff are not moving forward with energy regulations at this time. Staff will, however, be returning to City Council to describe the constraints within state law and provide possible routes forward through incentive-based energy codes. City Council will not be voting on any energy regulations at this time. Instead, they will hear different regulatory options and provide guidance to staff. A memo will be issued prior to the public hearing.

Staff are moving forward with a proposed ordinance generally amending Title 5 Business Licenses and Regulations. The proposed ordinance does not contain any energy regulations. The proposed ordinance would amend Title 5 to accommodate the new Cannabis Business License type (the 420 License). It includes standard provisions for application requirements and license content. Additionally, the proposed ordinance includes the requirement that cannabis cultivation and/or manufacturing shall install carbon filters. See the ordinance draft under "documents" on the right side of this page.


PROJECT TIMELINE:

For a full list of meeting times, refer to "Key Dates" in the panel on the right side of this page.

Land Use and Planning Committee informational meeting: July 13 (time TBD)

City Council Public Hearing: July 25 at 6:00 pm

City Council Final Consideration: August 8 at 6:00 pm

Information on how to attend the meetings virtually and whether a hybrid or in-person option is available is posted here: https://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/1149/AgendasWebcastsMinutes(External link)


PUBLIC COMMENT:

Staff invite the public, business owners, and all other interested parties to provide public comment on this item. Public comment will be taken by City Council until the public hearings are closed. Comments can be submitted through engage Missoula, via email to the planners noted on the right side of this page, by mailing in a letter to the City of Missoula office at 435 Ryman Street, Missoula, MT 59802, or during public meetings.

(Image Courtesy of Cannabis Tours)

Consultation has concluded

Comments submitted below will be routed to City Council for review. Questions posted below will be answered via automated email and posted below. 

  • Share Common sense tells us the gov wasted tax money trying to pass energy use mandates that by discrimination law can't be passed. All disguised in the name of fighting global warming by mandating LED lights only yet at the same time the gov banned outdoor growing under the sun that uses NO electricity for lights. I'm scared to know the truth if it's nefarious actions on their part or gross negligence. Either way the city council and planning board should have their powers taken. We tried to help them make their proposals realistic but in the end they only picked the advice that suited their agenda and threw small local business owners under the bus of giant multi state operators. Again here they are clueless and still trying to pass stupid laws. They didn't do their homework on lights before and obviously they haven't learned anything from the last debacle. They need to not do anything without first consulting the actual business. But they'd have to have the humility to actually listen which they have proven is beyond them. Mandating carbon filters and room air exchange every 5 minutes is pathetic. This effectively Bans sealed grow rooms that to fight insect outbreaks and neighborgood scent issues have no air exchange. Millions of sqft of indoor growing in USA is utilizing sealed rooms... but not for long in Montana! City council and planning board only pretend to listen. They should all be striped of their powers or fired. Just get it over with and change the name to Monfornia already! Smh. on Facebook Share Common sense tells us the gov wasted tax money trying to pass energy use mandates that by discrimination law can't be passed. All disguised in the name of fighting global warming by mandating LED lights only yet at the same time the gov banned outdoor growing under the sun that uses NO electricity for lights. I'm scared to know the truth if it's nefarious actions on their part or gross negligence. Either way the city council and planning board should have their powers taken. We tried to help them make their proposals realistic but in the end they only picked the advice that suited their agenda and threw small local business owners under the bus of giant multi state operators. Again here they are clueless and still trying to pass stupid laws. They didn't do their homework on lights before and obviously they haven't learned anything from the last debacle. They need to not do anything without first consulting the actual business. But they'd have to have the humility to actually listen which they have proven is beyond them. Mandating carbon filters and room air exchange every 5 minutes is pathetic. This effectively Bans sealed grow rooms that to fight insect outbreaks and neighborgood scent issues have no air exchange. Millions of sqft of indoor growing in USA is utilizing sealed rooms... but not for long in Montana! City council and planning board only pretend to listen. They should all be striped of their powers or fired. Just get it over with and change the name to Monfornia already! Smh. on Twitter Share Common sense tells us the gov wasted tax money trying to pass energy use mandates that by discrimination law can't be passed. All disguised in the name of fighting global warming by mandating LED lights only yet at the same time the gov banned outdoor growing under the sun that uses NO electricity for lights. I'm scared to know the truth if it's nefarious actions on their part or gross negligence. Either way the city council and planning board should have their powers taken. We tried to help them make their proposals realistic but in the end they only picked the advice that suited their agenda and threw small local business owners under the bus of giant multi state operators. Again here they are clueless and still trying to pass stupid laws. They didn't do their homework on lights before and obviously they haven't learned anything from the last debacle. They need to not do anything without first consulting the actual business. But they'd have to have the humility to actually listen which they have proven is beyond them. Mandating carbon filters and room air exchange every 5 minutes is pathetic. This effectively Bans sealed grow rooms that to fight insect outbreaks and neighborgood scent issues have no air exchange. Millions of sqft of indoor growing in USA is utilizing sealed rooms... but not for long in Montana! City council and planning board only pretend to listen. They should all be striped of their powers or fired. Just get it over with and change the name to Monfornia already! Smh. on Linkedin Email Common sense tells us the gov wasted tax money trying to pass energy use mandates that by discrimination law can't be passed. All disguised in the name of fighting global warming by mandating LED lights only yet at the same time the gov banned outdoor growing under the sun that uses NO electricity for lights. I'm scared to know the truth if it's nefarious actions on their part or gross negligence. Either way the city council and planning board should have their powers taken. We tried to help them make their proposals realistic but in the end they only picked the advice that suited their agenda and threw small local business owners under the bus of giant multi state operators. Again here they are clueless and still trying to pass stupid laws. They didn't do their homework on lights before and obviously they haven't learned anything from the last debacle. They need to not do anything without first consulting the actual business. But they'd have to have the humility to actually listen which they have proven is beyond them. Mandating carbon filters and room air exchange every 5 minutes is pathetic. This effectively Bans sealed grow rooms that to fight insect outbreaks and neighborgood scent issues have no air exchange. Millions of sqft of indoor growing in USA is utilizing sealed rooms... but not for long in Montana! City council and planning board only pretend to listen. They should all be striped of their powers or fired. Just get it over with and change the name to Monfornia already! Smh. link

    Common sense tells us the gov wasted tax money trying to pass energy use mandates that by discrimination law can't be passed. All disguised in the name of fighting global warming by mandating LED lights only yet at the same time the gov banned outdoor growing under the sun that uses NO electricity for lights. I'm scared to know the truth if it's nefarious actions on their part or gross negligence. Either way the city council and planning board should have their powers taken. We tried to help them make their proposals realistic but in the end they only picked the advice that suited their agenda and threw small local business owners under the bus of giant multi state operators. Again here they are clueless and still trying to pass stupid laws. They didn't do their homework on lights before and obviously they haven't learned anything from the last debacle. They need to not do anything without first consulting the actual business. But they'd have to have the humility to actually listen which they have proven is beyond them. Mandating carbon filters and room air exchange every 5 minutes is pathetic. This effectively Bans sealed grow rooms that to fight insect outbreaks and neighborgood scent issues have no air exchange. Millions of sqft of indoor growing in USA is utilizing sealed rooms... but not for long in Montana! City council and planning board only pretend to listen. They should all be striped of their powers or fired. Just get it over with and change the name to Monfornia already! Smh.

    CommonSense asked almost 2 years ago

    Thank you for providing comment.

  • Share Hi. I think that any energy restrictions should apply to all business and people, and not just the cannabis business. Thank you. on Facebook Share Hi. I think that any energy restrictions should apply to all business and people, and not just the cannabis business. Thank you. on Twitter Share Hi. I think that any energy restrictions should apply to all business and people, and not just the cannabis business. Thank you. on Linkedin Email Hi. I think that any energy restrictions should apply to all business and people, and not just the cannabis business. Thank you. link

    Hi. I think that any energy restrictions should apply to all business and people, and not just the cannabis business. Thank you.

    Bob Giordano asked about 2 years ago

    Thank you for submitting public comment. We will ensure your comment is included in the packet to City Council.