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Avon Lake safety committee moves forward with medical marijuana moratorium

Posted at 5:23 PM, Aug 25, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-26 08:25:46-04

Avon Lake's Safety committee voted Wednesday to move forward with a medical marijuana moratorium. 

Through the moratorium, the city can hold off on granting building permits or certificates for the cultivation, processing, or sale of the drug for six months, 180 days. 

"We don't want to  issue any building permits, change of use permits, that we may regret," Committee Chair, David Kos, told NewsChannel 5. 

The moratorium would not ban the use of prescribed medical marijuana.

Kos said the city felt the state law was rushed. "This law was put through without a lot of input from municipalities. And we are waiting to see how it plays out," he said. 

Avon Lake is not alone. Brooklyn and Lakewood have adopted similar moratoriums. Representatives from those cities told NewsChannel 5 medical marijuana dispensaries are expressing interest, and they need more time to research and plan. 

"This is an opportunity to see what the law says and how it's going to play out. It's giving us some breathing room," Kos said. 

North Olmsted and Sheffield Village are considering moratoriums as well.

View the moratoriums for Lakewood and Avon Lake.