The number of warehouses where medical marijuana can be grown in Northeast D.C. has been capped after residents complained that their section of the city was too often a dumping ground for the city’s less attractive facilities. In an emergency measure approved by the D.C. Council on Tuesday, the number of medical marijuana cultivation centers allowed per ward was capped at six. The move cut off the possibility that Ward 5, which has large tracts of industrial zones, would be home to nearly all of the 10 centers allowed under D.C. rule. A cultivation center must be built on industrial-zoned land.
“There’s other wards in the city,” said Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Jacqueline Manning after the council vote. Manning was among those who had lobbied at-large Councilman Vincent Orange, a Ward 5 resident, for the cap. Ward 5 has been without direct representation on the council since former Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. resigned and pleaded guilty to federal charges nearly two weeks ago.
“Every time something has happened in the city … Ward 5 has been looked at for them to come to, and that needs to stop,” Manning said. “We’re not a dumping ground.”
Most of the applicants proposed centers along New York Avenue. Cultivation centers must be 300 feet from schools and recreation centers and meet certain security requirements.
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Orange originally proposed a cap of five centers per ward. It was raised to six to accommodate the six applicants who had received preliminary approval from the Department of Health to operate in Ward 5. The seventh applicant to receive preliminary approval this month seeks a center in Ward 7. No previous cap existed.
Nine additional applicants are competing for the three remaining licenses. The Health Department is expected to select the remaining licensees by Jan. 31.
City officials have said the medical marijuana program will be running by midyear.
The council also voted down a proposal by Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry to ban a grower or distributor from holding more than one license. Up to five dispensaries are allowed in the city.
