51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The city of Denver that helps you decide where to place a marijuana dispensary.

Say you own a building near downtown, or you want to buy one near Cheesman Park. The online tool lets you click on the building to see if there鈥檚 a school, day care center or church within 1,000 feet. When voters in Colorado approved legalizing marijuana, they added a distance restriction to limit the placement of dispensaries, just as Missouri voters did.

51黑料 doesn鈥檛 have such an online tool. And it doesn鈥檛 need one. That鈥檚 because it鈥檚 one of the only cities in Missouri, and perhaps one of a few in the nation, that has no distance regulation when it comes to pot dispensaries. Aldermen changed 51黑料 code in 2020 to remove distance requirements.

For the past month, that鈥檚 had Marshall Cohen pretty upset. He鈥檚 the founder of Lift for Life Academy, the oldest charter school in the city, located in an industrial area in the Soulard neighborhood. Not one, but two dispensaries are planned in his neighborhood. One would be visible from the entrance to his school. He鈥檚 raised the alarm bells and given media interviews. Students from the school wrote a letter to the editor pleading their case.

But because the Board of Aldermen got rid of the distance requirements when only medical marijuana dispensaries were allowed, there鈥檚 nothing the city can do for now, officials have told Cohen.

The alderman who sponsored the bill, Jack Coatar, is now an attorney in private practice. Among his clients? Marijuana dispensaries.

Cohen finds that to be an 鈥渋nteresting鈥� coincidence. But the rules in 51黑料 are more than a coincidence. They鈥檙e an anomaly. In Kansas City, for instance, the city requires dispensaries to be 750 feet from schools and 300 feet from daycare centers or churches. And according to the Municipal League of Metro STL, every city that has adopted a tax on marijuana, as allowed by the state ballot initiative that legalized recreational use, has also adopted a distance requirement.

In Normandy, it鈥檚 100 feet. In Pacific, it鈥檚 110. Sunset Hills and University City went with 500 feet. Hazelwood, Kirkwood and Maryland Heights kept the 1,000 feet proscribed in state law.

The current alderman for the Soulard area, Cara Spencer, has done what I did 鈥� check to see what other cities adopted. She came to same conclusion: 51黑料 stands alone.

On Wednesday, Spencer plans to file a bill to add distance requirements back in the law in 51黑料. She鈥檒l propose that no dispensaries be allowed within 500 feet of a school, church or daycare facility.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a starting point for discussion,鈥� Spencer says.

That won鈥檛 necessarily help Cohen鈥檚 situation at the school he founded, but he鈥檚 glad aldermen will debate the issue.

鈥淚鈥檓 all for legalization. But we have these rules set up when we vote for these things,鈥� Cohen says. 鈥淔or it to change without any discussion is a tough pill to swallow.鈥�

That discussion won鈥檛 be an easy one. But it comes at a good time. Aldermen have been debating whether to make it easier to place homeless shelters in some neighborhoods that don鈥檛 want them. And the city is beginning a process of updating its strategic land use policy, which hasn鈥檛 been updated since 2005.

Zoning debates are hard 鈥� nobody wants anything in their backyard 鈥� but they鈥檙e important for a city to function. Aldermen can ask tough questions: How does the city better serve its unhoused population? Where are the best places for various businesses 鈥� bars, clubs, liquor stores, pot dispensaries? Where will the industry of the future go? What happens when a charter school is in the middle of an area that used to be industrial? What does a re-envisioned downtown look like?

Cohen and his students started a conversation that鈥檚 about to go citywide. He hopes it leads to a solution allowing businesses to thrive while respecting schools and their surroundings.

鈥淚f it happens to us, what about these other public schools, or parochial schools or the little mom-and-pop church?鈥� Cohen asks. 鈥淲hatever happens with this sets a precedent in the entire city. If it鈥檚 not 1,000 feet, what鈥檚 the magic number?鈥�

That鈥檚 the question the Board of Aldermen are poised to debate after they punted on it the first time.