BEMIDJI — The proposal for a Bemidji dispensary,
First City Cannabis,
will now be reviewed by the
Bemidji Planning Board
in February after two months of consideration by the Bemidji Planning Commission, which ended in a split 3-3 vote to deny the dispensary based on location on Thursday.

Julie Canty, applicant of First City Cannabis, responded to the commission’s vote after the meeting concluded.

“It could have gone worse,” she said. “I’m eternally optimistic … I believe that this is a very reputable business that the community needs, it deserves.”

Bemidji Planning Commission
member John Peterson led the charge against the Interim Use Permit for First City Cannabis during a
Dec. 18 meeting.
Peterson cast a vote to deny the project and commission member Nicki Lemmer provided a second. Tim Faver’s motion to table Peterson’s ultimately passed 4-2.

The additional time allowed city staff to prepare findings to support the motion to deny First City Cannabis. The apprehension is based on its proposed location of 920 Washington Ave. S, which sits near Kandiland Learning Center, a daycare center that constitutes a buffer zone of 500 feet surrounding any cannabis business.

TJ Rhodes / Bemidji Pioneer

The city initially measured the proposed location of First City Cannabis and the daycare center from building to building, which measured 606 feet between each building. Additionally, the proposed location measures 559 feet from a fence on the property of the daycare center. Each measurement demonstrates that the proposed location surpasses the 500-foot requirement.

However, Peterson asked that the city measure from property line to property line.

With this directive, the city found that the proposed location of First City Cannabis and the daycare center is 453 feet apart. Legal counsel confirmed that the original measurement was a reasonable interpretation of the law during the December meeting and also stated that the city is open to a lawsuit regardless of which measurement option is utilized.

Peterson also voiced concern about the proposed location’s proximity to the Gym Bin during the December meeting. The Gym Bin is a youth gymnastics center that lies within 500 feet of the proposed location but does not qualify as a school, daycare or public park, so it receives no buffer zone.

The city did not reclassify the Gym Bin, as this would require definitional changes to city ordinances.

The Gym Bin was not mentioned during Thursday’s meeting, but due to the new measurement between First City Cannabis and Kandiland, Peterson affirmed his motion to deny.

“I think there’s a lot of interpretation; I think there’s an opportunity for selective enforcement and then a lawsuit (could be) brought up against the city,” Peterson said. “It is definitive that the daycare facility there does fall within the setback requirements, so therefore (First City Cannabis) should be denied. I think it’s very definitive as far as they’re trying to pull something that should not be allowed.”

TJ Rhodes / Bemidji Pioneer

Lemmer also maintained her vote to second Peterson’s motion. However, Lemmer eventually voted against the motion as the de facto deciding vote. She was the only commission member to change their vote.

“This has been a very hard one,” Lemmer began. “Trying to do our job up here is to make sure that the ordinances are being followed, regardless of what our personal opinions are. And so far, (Canty has) done everything; she crossed her T’s as far as the state and the other city things. The biggest problem is the setbacks and I’ve always been a hard advocate of setbacks. You know, we need those setbacks.”

Lemmer noted that she believes the measurement should be from property line to property line, but that the ordinances do not make the measurement rules clear.

TJ Rhodes / Bemidji Pioneer

Commission member Michael Meehlhause cast a vote to approve the IUP for First City Cannabis, but did not receive a second from fellow commission members. Meehlhause also mentioned that he does not believe there will be any legislative changes and that the location of First City Cannabis should be approved as is.

Since the commission is short one member, no one could cast a tiebreaking vote. A tied vote of 3-3 fails, meaning that the motion to deny failed and now the IUP is moved to the Bemidji Planning Board for consideration with no recommendation from the commission.

The planning board will review the IUP during its upcoming February meeting, slated for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9, at City Hall.

TJ Rhodes / Bemidji Pioneer