{"id":179882,"date":"2024-05-30T03:39:05","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T08:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=179882"},"modified":"2024-05-31T03:51:57","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T08:51:57","slug":"council-takes-first-vote-on-rescinding-van-wert-city-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/05\/30\/council-takes-first-vote-on-rescinding-van-wert-city-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Council takes first vote on Van Wert law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert City Council took another step toward allowing a medical marijuana dispensary within the city limits, but it wasn\u2019t unanimous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Wednesday night\u2019s meeting, council members voted 6-1 during the first reading of two pieces of related legislation \u2013 a resolution that would rescind a previous ban of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city and an ordinance that would allow such a facility to locate in any B-3 zoned area of Van Wert. Repealing the ban not only would allow a medical marijuana dispensary to open in town but could also allow it to eventually sell recreational marijuana, which became legal statewide last November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Law Director John Hatcher (left) talks about zoning for a marijuana facility while Council President Thad Eikenbary listens. Scott Truxell\/VW independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Councilwoman At-Large Judy Bowers cast the only \u201cno\u201d vote on both agenda items. She requested the legislation be tabled and said she heard from a couple of residents who were against a dispensary in the city, but council proceeded with the first reading. Also prior to the vote, a pair of citizens spoke out against rescinding the city\u2019s current ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDelphos already has a medical marijuana dispensary so it\u2019s technically in Van Wert County already,\u201d Aaron Baker told council. \u201cOur county has voted overwhelmingly against this marijuana proposal that was on the ballot in November\u2026there are that issues that will spill over into our county, including the connection with poor memory and ability to focus, high rates of depression and suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis should not be a financial decision, it should be quality of living, a moral issue, an ethical issue that I would propose the city keep the ordinance as it is,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicole Byrum, who worked at Westwood for over 11 years and currently works at Cornerstone of Hope pointed out there are currently four recovery-oriented services in Van Wert and said she doesn\u2019t understand how having a dispensary would be conducive to recovery efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany of our clients in our drug program struggled with marijuana and I can attest to how many of them started using marijuana or alcohol at a very young age,\u201d she said. \u201cJust because something is legal does not mean it is safe, it does not mean that it\u2019s not addictive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

City resident Mark Davis pointed out that regardless if there\u2019s a dispensary in town, residents are legally allowed to grow marijuana in their own homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a council meeting in April, approximately 20 people showed up and those who spoke were in favor of allowing a medical marijuana dispensary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both pieces of legislation will have two more votes \u2013 one on June 10 and the final one on June 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other business, council voted 5-2 on the first reading of an ordinance that would eliminate each of council\u2019s seven committees and replace them with special committees on an as-needed basis. Bowers and Third Ward Councilwoman Julie Moore cast the \u201cno\u201d votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand why we should be tying the hands of future councilmen,\u201d Bowers stated. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to be councilmen forever and if you don\u2019t to use the council committees then that\u2019s you\u2019re prerogative but I don\u2019t think we should do away with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kallas responded by saying future council members could reinstate the committees but Bowers countered by saying it would be a waste of time. Kallas also pointed out that council committees rarely meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation is scheduled for two more readings. However, it will require at least six \u201cyes\u201d votes to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the regular meeting, council\u2019s Judiciary and Annexation Committee met to discuss regulations and guidelines for so-called \u201ctiny houses\u201d, which are typically 500 square feet or less. A presentation was made by Hall Block and MaryJo Hammond and legislation is expected to be introduced at a future meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other business, council members voted to change the age range for new police officers from 21-to-36 to 20-to-43.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next meeting of Van Wert City Council will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 10, in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Municipal Building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor Van Wert City Council took another step toward allowing a medical marijuana dispensary within the city limits, but it wasn\u2019t unanimous. During Wednesday night\u2019s meeting, council members voted 6-1 during the first reading of two pieces of related legislation \u2013 a resolution that would rescind a previous ban of medical marijuana dispensaries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 05:21:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179882"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179930,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179882\/revisions\/179930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}