Elida Mayor Darryl Nichols, left, and councilors Ken Hall and Burlin Sherrick participated in a discussion Tuesday on whether to draft an ordinance to prohibit the cultivation, processing and sales of cannabis within the village.
Craig Kelly | The Lima News
ELIDA — Elida Village Council will consider legislation to prohibit the cultivation, processing and sale of cannabis at its next meeting after approving the drafting of the ordinance at its regular meeting Tuesday.
During the meeting, council members discussed the issue of potential cannabis sales in the village with Mayor Darryl Nichols and village solicitor Barry Schroeder. They considered examples of similar legislation from the city of Fairfield and from the West Chester Township Board of Trustees, both in Butler County, with one ordinance representing a prohibition of cannabis cultivation, processing and sales and the other framed as a temporary moratorium.
“I also found there’s House Bill 341 introduced on (Nov. 28, 2023) by state Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) referring to cannabis sales in the state of Ohio,” Nichols said during the meeting.
That bill, which is still in committee, includes a section stating that municipal councils or township boards of trustees can “adopt an ordinance (or a) resolution by majority vote to prohibit, or limit the number of, adult use cannabis operators permitted under this chapter within the municipal corporation or within the unincorporated territory of the township, respectively.”
Because that legislation is still under consideration in Columbus, local governments face uncertainty as to whether such prohibition laws will be in keeping with Ohio Revised Code.
The village council decided by a 3-1 straw poll to move ahead with drafting the legislation to create a ban rather than place a temporary moratorium on cannabis cultivation, processing and sales but to not treat it as emergency legislation, meaning that it will have to go through three readings in order to pass, and the ordinance would not come into effect until 30 days after the final reading passes.
The hope, according to Nichols, is that this will give time for the Ohio Legislature to provide a clearer picture on what the law will allow local governments to do regarding cannabis.
“You’re talking two and a half months from now (before it would come into effect),” Nichols said. “We can table that at any point if they choose to do so.”
Nichols also noted that if any ordinance passed would come into conflict with statewide legislation on cannabis production and sales, Elida would be able to amend or repeal that ordinance to remain in compliance with state law.
