Pubdate: Sun, 18 May 2014 Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL) Page: A1 Copyright: 2014 Orlando Sentinel Contact: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325 Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs. Authors: David Damron and Erica Rodriguez CITIES LOOK HIGH, LOW FOR PLACES TO SELL POT Cities and counties throughout Central Florida are studying their zoning laws as they prepare for a new growth industry: the cultivation and sale of marijuana. Across the area, local planners are looking at where best to grow and sell pot in their communities should voters approve Amendment 2 on the November ballot. Some officials have little doubt about what's on the horizon. "We think it's going to pass," said Maitland Mayor Howard Schieferdecker. "And we want to get ahead of it." In his city, officials are looking at an ordinance that could essentially restrict marijuana-dispensary shops to an office park near Interstate 4. Mount Dora leaders, meanwhile, recently approved a new rule that would ban medical-marijuana shops from much of the city, including its cherished downtown merchant village. Flagler Beach, Cocoa Beach and other cities and towns have taken up similar rules, with Maitland poised to adopt its pot-shop restrictions next month. Lawmakers passed limited medical-marijuana legislation last month. And a poll earlier this month showed voters strongly favor an expanded version of that law: Amendment 2, which could fuel a push for growing operations and dispensaries around Florida. In the Quinnipiac University poll, 88 percent of registered Florida voters supported use of medical marijuana by adults. Maitland City Attorney Cliff Shepard said many cities worry that the pot shops will resemble the so-called "pill mills" that sprouted and attracted questionable customers amid Florida's prescriptiondrug epidemic. And that's why he wants to act sooner than later. "The experience with pain-management clinics, that's a fresh taste left in the mouth of a lot of cities," Shepardsaid. "It's something they don't want to repeat." In Mount Dora, for instance, once the drug becomes legal, those wishing to operate such a pot shop could do so only within parts of the city zoned for high industrial use and would need a special permit. A shabby stretch of land along U.S. Highway 441 in the city's southeast that's now home to a Dollar General and rummage store already has such zoning. Under the new rule, drive throughs, alcohol and loitering would be forbidden at medical-marijuana dispensaries. The shops must be more than 2,500 feet from parks, day cares, schools and other pot shops. The rule also would ban medical-marijuana farming in the city. "Our biggest concern is what can tend to happen around dispensaries, which is the loitering and any potential illegal activities," said Mark Reggentin, the city's planning-and-zoning director. "The worst thing that can happen is somebody can legally purchase the product and illegally sell it." Though Reggentin said he doesn't expect that to happen, the intent of the new rule was to get ahead of state legislation making sure pot shops have no question about what's allowed at their businesses. If and when the drug becomes legal, Reggentin says, the city can always go back and amend the rules. Mount Dora council member Nick Girone, who supports the rule, said residents want to keep the city the way it is and not become "some kind of a drug haven." "I know our intent was not to let this thing be a free-for-all with head shops all over the place," Girone said. Though not as far along in their planning as some other municipalities, officials from Orange County and Orlando are preparing for the possibility of Amendment 2's passage. They recently attended a municipal-planning conference where a panel discussed the various issues local governments could soon face. Robert Capecchi, an official at the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., said that similar restrictions exist in other states. Florida just appears to be "jumping the gun a little bit." Capecchi, the group's deputy director of state policies, said the restrictions are often aimed at keeping pot shops away from schools, playgrounds and churches. That often ends up pushing pot businesses to less-desirable locales, even though he said they "are no more insidious than liquor stores." Part of that push is the residue of historic efforts to demonize marijuana, he said. "There's been decades upon decades of 'Reefer Madness' that's been beat into our heads," Capecchi said. "That tends to sink in." City leaders in Tavares, meanwhile, will soon be considering their own rule. Councilwoman Lori Pfister, who raised the topic at a recent council meeting, says she thinks legalized medicinal marijuana will open the door for new businesses and sees the area around Tavares' Florida Hospital Waterman campus as an ideal place for shops. "I want people to make their medical-marijuana purchase locally," she said. "I don't want them going to another city." Orange County Commissioner Ted Edwards wants his board to act, noting that other cities have opted not to wait. He's asked for a discussion of potential local regulations to come up soon. "It's not that the sky is falling," Edwards said. "But we should be prepared." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D