EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn. (Valley News Live) – East Grand Forks is on the cusp of a new retail cannabis dispensary.

The White Earth Nation has filed a demolition request for the former Burger King on Central Ave. NW.

Permits are expected soon, now that city council has been notified.

The move is possible thanks to a tribal compact, which allows the tribe to issue its own operating licenses.

The White Earth Nation can establish up to eight stores statewide.

They currently operate dispensaries in Moorhead and St. Cloud.

While East Grand Forks has a two-store limit for retail cannabis, tribal operations are exempt from this restriction.

“We’re kind of forced into allowing a third to be here,” Council Member Ben Pokrzywinski said. “I think it would be better to have an ordinance that has a limit of one because there’s this backdoor to get a second one as it is.”

The city has granted preliminary approval to two additional cannabis businesses. These retailers are navigating the state licensing program.

However, there’s no clear timeline yet on when their license will be finalized, or where these new stores will be located.

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