The O’Fallon City Council has proposed amending the distance restrictions included in its original Medical Marijuana ordinance approved on March 28, 2019.

Earlier this year, a 10-page bill [No. 7077] amended Title IV: Land Use, Chapter 400 of the city’s Zoning Code, to establish a medical marijuana land use within O’Fallon. The defined land use includes a specific restriction for a minimum 750-foot distance between any type of medical marijuana facility and schools, churches and child day care centers. It also includes a restriction of a 1,500-foot minimum distance between medical marijuana facilities.

The bill [No. 7124] sponsored by Council Member Rose Mack [Ward 2] would modify the 1,500-foot restriction so that the buffer only applies to identical facility uses. For example, a cultivation facility would create a 1,500-foot buffer between it and another cultivation facility but a dispensary or testing facility would not be bound by the buffer and could locate within that area. Medical marijuana related uses under the same ownership and on the same property are exempt from this requirement.

At its Sept. 5 meeting, the O’Fallon Planning & Zoning Commission voted to forward to the council a recommendation of approval for this amendment.

The bill was given a public hearing and first reading at the council meeting on Sept. 12. If typical timing is followed, the second reading and vote for final approval would be at the council meeting on Sept. 26