NEW OVERLAY - MEDICAL CANNABIS TREATMENT CENTERS AND PHARMACY STORES

AN ORDINANCE OF THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE CODE OF THE CITY OF MIAMI BEACH, SUBPART B, ENTITLED "LAND DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS," BY AMENDING CHAPTER 142 OF THE CITY CODE ENTITLED "ZONING DISTRICTS AND REGULATIONS," ARTICLE V, ENTITLED "SPECIALIZED USE REGULATIONS," DIVISION 10, ENTITLED "CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES REGULATIONS AND USE," BY AMENDING SECTION 142-1502, ENTITLED "ZONING DISTRICTS ALLOWING MEDICAL CANNABIS TREATMENT CENTERS, PHARMACY STORES, AND RELATED USES, PROHIBITED LOCATIONS, AND NONCONFORMING USES," TO CREATE A NEW AREA WHERE SUCH USES MAY BE PERMITTED, PROVIDED THAT THE PROPOSED USE MEETS CERTAIN ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA; AND PROVIDING FOR CODIFICATION, REPEALER, SEVERABILITY, AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE.

PLANNING ANALYSIS
In order for Care Resource to accommodate an in-house pharmacy at its current location, the attached Ordinance has been drafted, which amends Chapter 142, Article 5, Division 10 of LDR’s, pertaining to “Controlled Substances Regulations and Use”, to create a new district for both pharmacies and medical cannabis dispensaries. Specifically, a new sub-area (Area 5) for medical cannabis and pharmacy uses, is proposed, and includes lots zoned CD-3 south of 17th Street, generally located between Michigan Avenue on the east, 17th Street on the north, Lenox Avenue on the west, and the north lot line of City parking lot number P25 (see attached map). Due to its proximity to the single-family residential area to the north, Area 5 contains additional safeguards to minimize potential impacts.

Within Area 5, the following would apply:

• Only medical cannabis treatment centers or pharmacy stores that are accessory to a medical office, clinic, or health center. The hours of operation of the pharmacy store or medical cannabis treatment center shall match the hours of the principal medical office, clinic, or health center, but in no event shall an accessory pharmacy store or medical cannabis treatment center operate past 6:00 PM, except for one (1) night per week during which the pharmacy or medical cannabis treatment center may operate until 7:00 PM.

o As used in the subsection, the term “medical office, clinic, or health center” requires a minimum of two (2) full-time physicians or physician extenders (physician’s assistants or nurse practitioners), and a minimum of five (5) patient examination rooms.

• The building in which the medical cannabis treatment center or pharmacy store is located shall be an existing office building that is a minimum of 25,000 square feet in size on of the effective date of this ordinance.

• A medical cannabis treatment center or pharmacy store shall not be located on the ground floor.

• The area dedicated for use as a pharmacy store or medical cannabis treatment center shall not exceed 1,000 square feet. For the purpose of calculating the area of the accessory pharmacy store or medical cannabis treatment center, only the portion of the building that is being used as a pharmacy store or medical cannabis treatment center shall be considered, and the portion of the building that serves as the principal medical office, clinic, or health center shall not be considered in the maximum area calculation. The pharmacy store or medical cannabis treatment center will use its best efforts to sell only to medical office, clinic, or health center patients and not to the general public.

• Pharmacy stores and medical cannabis treatment centers shall only service patients from private waiting rooms.

• Queueing of patients in hallways or common areas of the building in which the use is located is prohibited. Violations of this subsection shall be subject to the penalties under Section 142-1512.

• Accessory pharmacy stores and medical cannabis treatment centers are exempt from the wall separation requirement of Section 142-1503(e).

• Pharmacy stores are prohibited from distributing cannabis or cannabis products.

• Exterior signage is prohibited for pharmacy stores or medical cannabis treatment centers.

• No pharmacy store shall be located within 600 feet of another pharmacy store.

• No medical cannabis treatment center shall be located within 600 feet of another medical cannabis treatment center.

• There shall be no variances from the requirements of this section.

In general, the Administration has no objections to the proposed Ordinance amendment, as it is very limited in scope. However, although the proposed Ordinance is limited in applicability, it is important to point out that a medical cannabis treatment center would be eligible to be located within the proposed new boundaries (Area 5) and would not be required to be a stand-alone use.

PLANNING BOARD REVIEW
On September 28, 2021, the Planning Board held a public hearing and transmitted the Ordinance to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation by a vote of 5-0.

UPDATE

The subject Ordinance was approved at First Reading on October 13, 2021 with no changes.