St. Paul City Council approves zoning rules for cannabis businesses

The St. Paul City Council on Wednesday passed zoning regulations that will govern where adult-use cannabis businesses can set up shop.

The amendment to city code states cannabis retailers must be at least 300 feet from schools — with an exception for downtown — and cannot share a common entrance with a tobacco shop. They’re also required to have surveillance cameras pointed at all sales areas, entrances and exits.

The City Council developed the ordinance according to recommendations from the St. Paul Planning Commission.

Some residents who testified over the past few weeks have demanded stricter limits on where cannabis permits can be issued and pushed to increase the minimum distance from schools to 1,000 feet — the largest such margin allowed under the state’s adult-use cannabis law.

Council Member Rebecca Noecker said staff analysis concluded that more stringent distance requirements would likely have resulted in “overconcentration.”

“I think it’s really important that these uses not be too concentrated in any one particular neighborhood because I think that would also have some of the negative impacts that our testifiers were concerned about,” Noecker said.

Before the unanimous vote, Council Member Nelsie Yang said she would have liked to see child care centers included in the 300-foot separation requirement but decided to go forward with the measure in its current form to avoid further public comment. However, she asked that the council revisit adding day cares to the ordinance “at a later time.”