Stillwater community members sent more than 100 emails to the city’s planning department expressing concern over a proposed adult-use recreational cannabis retail store opening near facilities frequented by minors.

“This would seem to violate the intent of trying to keep youth protected from bad or inappropriate influences,” Carol Tregilgas wrote in one such email.

Stillwater City Council members voted Wednesday on three businesses that applied for permits to open adult-use recreational cannabis retail stores in the city. After much debate, the council approved a permit for one location and denied two locations: one near the St. Croix Valley Recreation Center and the other near Catholic school Chesterton Academy.

Defining schools and public parks

One of the three locations in question included 1754 Washington Ave., which has stirred the controversy due to its proximity to the St. Croix Valley Recreation Center, LumberYard Hockey Sports Center and Curio Dance Studio. At the request of the city’s planning commission, and to decide whether the adult-use recreational cannabis shop could open, city council members had to define whether the center qualifies as a public park attraction.

“I appreciate all of the emails, although most of them are identical from the people at Curio Dance,” Stillwater mayor Ted Kozlowski said in the meeting. “Even if we could consider all of those emails, we can’t use that to say ‘no’ to a business if it adheres to our zoning, because we will go to court, we will get sued and we will lose. Not liking the business, that’s a permitted allowed use, does not give us enough reason to say no.”

Throughout the request evaluation, city staff had not identified the St. Croix Valley Recreation Center to be a public park attraction, but with further discussion surrounding the center’s use by children, council members began to reconsider the notion.

Community members also expressed frustration over the proposed business’s proximity to Curio Dance, 1655 Washington Ave., which on its website is described as a “dance school.” According to state requirements, however, the program does not fall in line with a traditional school, which requires markers like test scores and recorded student attendance, city attorney Korine Land said.

According to Minnesota statute and Stillwater city code, cannabis businesses cannot operate within 1,000 feet of a school. Because Curio Dance is not recognized as a school, that concern was removed from the council’s final decision.

Minnesota statute also allows cities to prohibit the operation of a cannabis business within 500 feet of “an attraction within a public park that is regularly used by minors.” Stillwater city code adopted the buffer requirement and identifies an attraction as “including, but not limited to, a playground, athletic field, athletic court, picnic area or restrooms, pavilion or park building, or disc golf features.”

The determining factor for approval discussed among members was how to measure the distance between the recreation center and the proposed dispensary: using the 715 feet from the recreation center’s sports dome, 775 feet from the center’s nearest exit to the storefront entrance or 290 feet from the recreation center’s closest corner to the entrance of the storefront.

“When it comes to figuring out where to put these things, one, it’s nothing anybody on this council … enjoys figuring out … it’s not what we do,” Kozlowski said in the meeting. “This is why we have zoning.”

Statewide normalization of cannabis

Kozlowski continued and stated that he understands the concerns of the public, but that the concerns alone aren’t enough for the council to deny a business from operating if it meets zoning requirements.

He also said that in the emails, there seemed to be fear surrounding the notion of normalizing cannabis in the city if the business were approved.

“I hate to break it to you, but the normalization process has begun,” Kozlowski said in the meeting.

Kozlowski said while the council has not expressed excitement over having cannabis businesses operate in the city, it is a state requirement they must adhere to. He went on to confirm with the city’s police chief, Brian Muller, that cannabis businesses have multiple restrictions, including signage, age and behavioral requirements.

“I don’t think this is going to look like any other business,” Kozlowski said in the meeting. “You will have people walking into it and walking out of it, but outside of that, it’s not gonna look, sound, smell, any different from a shoe store, TV shop, or anything else.”

The vote

While the mayor motioned to approve the permit request, the motion was not seconded.

Ultimately, the council denied the request for approval of the 1754 Washington Ave. location in a 3-2 vote “based on the fact that the attraction is the field house, and new information” that a door could be added to the dome, council member Larry Odebrecht said in his motion to deny the request. Kozlowski and Council Member Lindsay Belland voted not to deny. Council members Odebrecht,  Ryan Collins and Michael Polehna voted to deny the permit.

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All five council members also voted to approve a conditional use permit for the cannabis retail shop Mango Cannabis at 14200 60th St. N. and denied the request for Hash Browns LLC at Valley Ridge Mall, 1360 Frontage Road W.

The Hash Browns proposed location is within 1,000 feet of Chesterton Academy of the St. Croix Valley, which does not align with zoning requirements.

The proposed Mango Cannabis location met all zoning requirements and would not operate near public park attractions or schools, which made the approval decision simple, the council expressed. Mango Cannabis also has secured a permit to operate another shop down the road at the Joseph’s restaurant space in Oak Park Heights.