24-hour weed dispensaries? New rule would allow it in some parts of Kansas City
Kansas City is considering a zoning amendment that would allow certain marijuana dispensaries to operate 24 hours a day.
The proposal, introduced by Councilmember Crispin Rea, would apply only to dispensaries more than 1,000 feet from a residential zoning district and requires approval through a special use permit.
City staff has recommended the amendment for approval. It will be heard by the City Plan Commission at its meeting Wednesday and will need to be passed by the full city council if approved by the planning commission.
Rea said the amendment was triggered by a request from Key Cannabis (formerly Elevate), a dispensary on Front Street located in a uniquely industrial corridor. Rea noted that the shop is surrounded by 24-hour businesses including a Waffle House, McDonald’s and QuikTrip, and has no nearby residents.
“I felt it made sense to allow them to apply to operate in alignment with the businesses nearby,” Rea said.
Given where dispensaries are currently located in Kansas City, the only other shop that qualifies is From the Earth at 1222 McGee St., near the T-Mobile Center. Rea said he’d spoken with downtown stakeholders, including the Downtown Council, and hadn’t heard any objections.
“I take a lot of comfort in the fact that dispensaries are highly regulated in Missouri, as opposed to the smoke shops and unlicensed THC shops that have popped up all over town,” Rea said. “The licensed dispensaries don’t attract undesirable criminal activity in the way one of those shops or a liquor store does.”
Dispensaries would need to apply for a special use permit that’s valid for up to five years, after which the business would be required to apply again and go through another review process.
“That gives the city the chance to reevaluate how things are going,” Rea said.
Jack Cardetti, spokesman for the Missouri cannabis industry trade group MoCannTrade, said Missouri cities were quick to place restrictive hours of operation on businesses after the state legalized medical marijuana in 2018. But there’s been a trend toward loosening those restrictions in recent years.
“To us, it’s an acknowledgment that these cannabis small businesses have been good local community partners that are safely creating thousands of jobs and generating millions in local tax revenue,” Cardetti said.
He noted St. Joseph, Blue Springs and Grandview also allow 24-hour sales, though dispensaries in those cities don’t necessarily choose to operate around the clock.
