They would be in line with legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly.
Cannabis
Frederick, Md (KM) A bill to change zoning requirements for cannabis dispensaries came before the Frederick County Council Tuesday night.
Sarah, Price, the State Government Relations Associate in the County Executive’s Office, says these changes include updating distance requirements for those businesses from 1500 to 500 feet from public and private schools, parks, libraries, playgrounds, recreation and children’s centers, places of worship and family childcare homes. “The bill also removes the distance requirement on cannabis dispensaries for areas planned for these uses as that is no longer allowed by state law. And finally, the bill will add a distance requirement of 100 feet from areas zoned residential use,” she said.
These proposed changes resulted from actions taken by the Maryland General Assembly in 2024 and2025.
During the discussion, Councilman Steve McKay asked Mike Wilkins, Director of Development Review and Planning, about when a school is constructed near an already existing cannabis dispensary.
McKay: “Is the school non-conforming ,or is the dispensary non-conforming?”
Wilkins: “I would say the dispensary would become non-conforming because there’s not a law that restricts schools from locating near dispensaries. It’s the other way around.”
McKay said the bill has “lousy changes” and he won’t vote for it.
Councilwoman M.C. Keegan-Ayer said these changes came about at the state level because some jurisdictions in Maryland were making it difficult for cannabis dispensaries to operate. “So the state initially said you cannot prohibit them. So the counties then went back and made setbacks extremely challenging. And so this is a response from the state again,” she said.
The Council is expected to consider this bill at a future meeting. Members asked their staff to research issues such as how a place of worship is defined, and whether the distance cannabis dispensaries must be from schools also includes colleges.
By Kevin McManus