On a recent visit to the Phoenix area, Deputy Mayor Michael Junk and a handful of other city officials stood outside a medical marijuana cultivation and processing facility. Then they inhaled.

They weren’t trying to get high. They were sniffing around for odors.

The trip — and that sniffing around — was part of months of preparation the city has put into examining how to regulate the medical marijuana business ushered in with the June passage of State Question 788.

“It’s been a challenging process because the state, to date, hasn’t given a tremendous amount of guidance,” Junk said. “So we are caught in a bit of a gray area, because we’re trying to draft and implement — prepare for a policy that is a completely uncharted area for us.”

The implementation process begins in earnest Wednesday when the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission is scheduled to discuss a draft version of the city’s proposed amendments to the zoning code.

The Planning Commission will provide recommendations to the City Council, which will have the final say.

The proposal sets out the land-use regulations that cultivation centers, processing facilities and dispensaries would have to follow if they want to be part of the medical marijuana business in Tulsa.

“Our hope is you (potential business owners) will look to other states and what their requirements are and recognize the city is attempting to do everything we can to expedite the updating of our ordinances,” Junk said.

All medical marijuana businesses in the city — whether they be cultivation centers, processing facilities or dispensaries — will have to be licensed by the state and be in compliance with all state Health Department regulations.

The proposed regulations call for limiting processing facilities to areas zoned heavy industrial. A processing facility could be operated in an area zoned moderate industrial if a special exception is granted by the city Board of Adjustment.

Cultivation centers, meanwhile, could be operated on property zoned agricultural or industrial, and dispensaries would be allowed in areas zoned commercial or industrial.

Junk said the city paid close attention to safety issues and possible nuisances created by medical marijuana operations.

“We stood outside a processing facility to see: Can we detect an odor in the air?” Junk said. “We said, ‘Well, if there is one, is this something we need to specifically address, or do our current nuisance ordinances address this?’ And so those are the things we considered.”

The result: the city’s proposed regulations call for all cultivation and processing facilities to be in enclosed structures with proper ventilation and air-filtering systems.

“That’s why we are looking specifically at industrial areas to house these facilities,” Junk said.

The city’s spacing requirements would differ depending on what the medical marijuana business is. For example, a dispensary could not be within 1,000 feet of another dispensary. A processing facility could not be within 1,000 feet of a residentially zoned district or within 1,000 feet of a residential use.

The city’s proposed regulations make no mention of spacing requirements between medical marijuana dispensaries and schools because that issue is covered in state law. State Question 788 prohibits a medical marijuana dispensary from being within 1,000 feet of a public or private school entrance.

The city has yet to determine whether medical marijuana businesses will be required to obtain permits from the city.

“The only proposal we are considering right now is the zone code amendment,” Junk said. “We have yet to determine what or if a permit will be required by the city or if it will only be permitted by the state.”

Junk said the city hopes to have the regulations in place in December.

Proposed medical marijuana regulations

The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission on Wednesday will begin discussing proposed land-use regulations for medical marijuana cultivation, processing and dispensary facilities.

The proposed regulations address such things as where the facilities can be located, and building, security and spacing requirements.

The proposed regulations do not include a spacing requirement between medical marijuana dispensaries and schools. That’s covered in State Question 788, the voter-approved measure that make medical marijuana legal in Oklahoma, states that

The Planning Commission is expected to hold a public hearing and vote on the proposed regulations at its Oct. 3 meeting. Those recommendations will then be forwarded to the City Council, which could vote on them as early as November.

Planning Commission meetings are held at 1:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber of City Hall, Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue.

Here are the highlights of the proposed regulations:

Dispensaries

Permitted locations: Land zoned commercial or industrial

Regulations:

- Facility must be in an enclosed building (No mobile facilities allowed)

- Facility cannot be within 1,000 feet of another dispensary

- No drive-thru windows or lanes

- Must have a ventilation/air filtration system that prevents odor from being detectable at the boundaries of the lot within which the building housing the medical marijuana grower operation, processing facility or dispensary is located, except that if a medical marijuana dispensary is located in multiple-tenant building, the ventilation/air filtration system must prevent odor from being detectable outside the tenant space housing the dispensary

- Must electronic security system and surveillance camera

- Must be licensed by the state and be in compliance with all state Health Department regulations

Processing Facilities

Permitted locations: By right on property zoned heavy industrial; by special exception to the zoning code for property zoned moderate industrial

Regulations:

- Facility must be in an enclosed, free-standing building

- Facility cannot be within 1,000 feet of a residentially zoned district, or within 1,000 feet of a residential use (e.g., a residence on a property zoned agriculture, such as a farm)

- Must have a ventilation/air filtration system that prevents odor from being detectable at the boundaries of the lot within which the building housing the medical marijuana grower operation, processing facility or dispensary is located, except that if a medical marijuana dispensary is located in multiple-tenant building, the ventilation/air filtration system must prevent odor from being detectable outside the tenant space housing the dispensary

- Must electronic security system and surveillance camera

- Must be licensed by the state and be in compliance with all state Health Department regulations

Cultivation Centers

Permitted locations: Property zoned agricultural or industrial (including light industrial, moderate industrial, and heavy industrial)

Regulations:

- Facility must be in an enclosed, free-standing building

- Facility cannot be within 1,000 feet of a residentially zoned district, or within 1,000 feet of a residential use (e.g., a residence on a property zoned agriculture, such as a farm)

- Must have a ventilation/air filtration system that prevents odor from being detectable at the boundaries of the lot within which the building housing the medical marijuana grower operation, processing facility or dispensary is located, except that if a medical marijuana dispensary is located in multiple-tenant building, the ventilation/air filtration system must prevent odor from being detectable outside the tenant space housing the dispensary

- Must electronic security system and surveillance camera

- Must be licensed by the state and be in compliance with all state Health Department regulations

Source: Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission