St. Cloud City Council Approves New Rules for Cannabis Businesses and Housing Parking Requirements

(KNSI) – St. Cloud has approved some rules to allow budding cannabis companies to expand.

The city council amended the land development code on Monday to allow the growing, manufacturing, processing, testing, and wholesaling of cannabis within an enclosed building in an I3 industrial district. The lots are in the I-94 business park, airport, and West Business Park.

Dispensaries will be restricted to the C5 zones, which are considered highway corridors. They’re found along Roosevelt Road in the south, Highway 10 on the east side, and Highway 23 on the west end. Retailers would be required to be 1,000 feet from schools and 500 feet from active parks and daycares. The rules would ban commercial operations in agricultural and residential areas.

The city is required to allow a minimum of six combined growing and selling locations within the city based on its population. One facility must be allowed per 12,500 people.

The proposal was passed without anyone speaking during a public hearing. The ordinance is almost identical to what’s been passed in Benton, Stearns, and Sherburne County.

The council also voted to change the parking requirements for housing developments from two spaces per home or apartment unit to one. The council hopes the change will encourage more workforce housing in St. Cloud. No one spoke for or against the change during a public hearing.

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