Mesa City Council sets July 1 for vote on amendments to marijuana codes

By Connor Van Ligten
Mail

The Mesa City Council in July is slated to vote on amending a chapter of the Mesa city code to increase the permitted maximum floor area at dispensaries and remove the delivery restriction that was previously exclusively available to medical marijuana patients.

The council on June 16 voted 6-0 — with Councilmember Jen Duff absent — to introduce the ordinance and set July 1 as the date of the public hearing. The meeting will begin at 5:45 p.m. in the council chambers, 20 E. First St.

The amendments remove a provision that limits delivery service exclusively to medical marijuana dispensaries serving qualifying patients and opens up delivery service to recreational facilities. The amendments also increase the maximum size of medical marijuana dispensaries and dual-licensee facilities from 2,500 to 5,000 square feet and remove specific requirements for storage area limitations and dedicated interior waiting areas.

According to a planning and zoning board staff report, the size increase and storage limitation changes provide greater operational flexibility for registered facilities.

For the delivery service provision, the staff report said state law permits the authorization and regulation of the delivery of recreational marijuana as of November 2024. While the current Mesa city code does not allow recreational marijuana delivery, it could be seen as more restrictive than rules governing medical marijuana delivery, which is prohibited under Proposition 207, and a potential conflict with state law, according to council documents. As a result, the provision that limits marijuana delivery in Mesa to only medical parents needs to be removed in order to comply with state law.