Newark City Council on Monday opened the door for marijuana dispensaries to open here, but only in tiny slivers of the city.
Standalone dispensaries will be allowed only near the intersection of Ogletown Road and Marrows Road.
This area includes the existing Fresh Delaware medical marijuana dispensary, which is expected to pursue a license to sell recreational marijuana. Because state law requires dispensaries to be located at least 1,200 feet from each other, it’s likely that only one new standalone dispensary could open in Newark.
Notably, The Grove at Newark shopping center is not eligible, but the adjacent parcel where Wawa and the former KFC are located is.
Retail sales also are allowed as part of a larger marijuana cultivation or manufacturing facility in certain industrial areas, including the Diamond State Industrial Park on Bellevue Road, Interchange Business Park on Elkton Road, and Sandy Brae Industrial Park off Otts Chapel Road.
Each prospective business will be required to petition city council for a special-use permit. The permit can be denied if council determines that the dispensary would be a detriment to the community.
If the proposed dispensary is within 300 feet of a school, there must be a physical barrier like a highway or railroad between the school and the dispensary, and approval requires a supermajority vote of city council.
The regulations concerning marijuana dispensaries were approved after nearly a year of contentious debate. While the state legalized the use of marijuana and established a framework for commercial sales to begin next year, the legislature gave towns the ability to use their zoning code to regulate where dispensaries can open.
Three council members supported an outright ban on dispensaries, but a slim majority of council supported allowing them in certain areas. Most council members were adamant they not be allowed on Main Street.
An initial proposal would have allowed dispensaries along Elkton Road between Suburban Plaza and the state line, as well as on South College Avenue near Interstate 95. However, both locations were removed after opposition from neighboring residents and, in the case of Elkton Road, from the leaders of Newark Charter School and ASPIRA Academy.
Chris Williamson, a resident of Arbour Park and a member of Newark’s planning commission, told council members that allowing dispensaries on South College Avenue would put them too close to his and other neighborhoods.
“896 from West Chestnut down to the freeway is not just a racetrack to get to I-95,” Williamson said. “It’s also a neighborhood for us living down there.”
David Wiesler, president of the Arbour Park Civic Association, said adding a dispensary would add to existing traffic problems in the area, as many out-of-state travelers would get off I-95 to buy marijuana.
“I’ve lived here for 21 years. The traffic on 896 has gotten insane in that whole area,” Wiesler said.
Pam Green, who lives off Casho Mill Road, encouraged council to allow no more than one or two dispensaries in the city, preferably in industrial areas.
“Who is going to pay for the accidents on the roads, the parties that have to be broken up and all the raucous behavior that is going to happen?” Green asked. “We know it’s going to happen. Who is going to pay for it? You are, I am, we all are.”
State Rep. Ed Osienski, who led the effort to legalize marijuana, reminded council members that dispensaries are prohibited from advertising and selling to minors.
“I hear some things today that are from the old Reefer Madness days, and so much research has been done to prove that it’s a much safer product,” Osienski said.
Councilman Travis McDermott, who works as a police officer for New Castle County, argued that allowing dispensaries brings no value to the city because all the taxes go to the state.
“What is the benefit of allowing retail sales to be here?” he asked. “I’ll say it again, it is going to affect the quality of life for the people who live here.”
Councilwoman Dwendolyn Creecy disagreed, saying that dispensaries help decrease illegal sales.
“I think having one here will actually bring down crime,” Creecy said.
While most of the debate has been about dispensaries, the approved zoning regulations also allow indoor marijuana cultivation facilities, marijuana product manufacturing facilities and marijuana testing facilities to open in industrial areas around the city. Cultivation and manufacturing businesses require a special-use permit. Testing of marijuana, which happens in a laboratory setting with no impact to the surrounding area, does not.
The state is currently accepting applications for marijuana businesses, and successful applicants will be notified in November.
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