EAST GRAND FORKS — With the moratorium on the sale of cannabis in East Grand Forks set to end later this year, the city is preparing its regulations and guidelines for businesses looking to set up shop in the city.

A few proposals for how to develop ordinances have been discussed by the East Grand Forks City Council, ranging from how many businesses it would like to allow within certain limits and where it would like to have businesses, to example. According to City Administrator Reid Huttunen, he expects city staff to make formal changes to the ordinances sometime in November, before the moratorium expires.

Under Minnesota law, no city can impose a moratorium on cannabis sales after the end of the year. East Grand Forks, like many cities across the state,

imposed a moratorium after the legalization of cannabis in 2023

to give the city time to create rules on businesses within their boundaries. Since it was legalized, the state hasn’t been very willing to provide information to local governments, some city leaders said.

“They never sent it officially. It showed up all of a sudden on their website,” Huttunen said. “I had been doing periodic check-ins to see what was going on so I could have my group planning meetings with our staff and then one day, ‘by the way, here’s your local government guide.’ »

This guide provides an introduction to

information on how licensing and potential zoning works

. The city is allowed to limit the number of retailers, and East Grand Forks has considered allowing possibly two businesses within the city: one in the downtown commercial district and another in the highway commercial district. The city could also see manufacturing and distribution companies, which do not follow the same digital restrictions by locality, in industrial zones.

The city does not plan to create a municipal cannabis business, which is permitted in Minnesota. THE

The Crookston City Council discussed this option as a means

for the city to generate additional revenue. In East Grand Forks, there wasn’t as much of an appetite, nor was there precedent for the town to run a business, such as a municipal liquor store. Other Minnesota towns operate liquor stores, but East Grand Forks never has.

Also as part of the ordinance discussions, the city discussed creating a business registry.

“We have the ability to create a registration for local cannabis businesses. »

Huttunen told the council on October 8.

“We don’t have that currently, but if it’s the council’s wish we could put recording rules in place.”

The city does not issue a general business license. To facilitate the city’s outreach and ability to communicate with the business community, the city proposed that businesses register to create a record of their contact details.

“I think we should have a registration process for all local businesses,” City Attorney Ron Galstad told the Council on Oct. 8. “It would help the (Economic Development Authority). That helps us with reporting, and it just helps us know who’s actually operating a business in the city.

Regardless of any ordinances, most cannabis licenses are handled by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management. The office still has only an interim director, has yet to begin issuing business licenses, and a social equity license lottery designed to jump-start businesses opening still hasn’t been finalized. Many of the processes lawmakers created when they legalized cannabis are still in their infancy and have not been fully tested.

“It’s still a big unknown for everyone,” Huttunen said. “No one knows in practice what it will actually look like when they start issuing licenses. For our sake, we just want to make sure the order is in place so that we at least have a framework of expectations.

He added, “I have a feeling that one day this is going to hit our doorstep and the state will say, ‘We have a licensee who is ready to open a business.’ »

Voigt covers government in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.