There will be two items regarding medical marijuana facilities up for a second reading at the St. Joseph City Council meeting Monday night.

City Manager Bruce Woody said the two items on the agenda received recommendation from the planning commission to proceed to the city council.

Woody said item five is general discussion on planning and zoning regulations regarding medical marijuana facilities.

“That’s manufacturing or dispensing or testing of medical marijuana,” Woody said. “That addresses what the zoning needs to be for those types of facilities, setback distances, those types of generic planning and zoning related things as they relate to this specific topic.”

Item three on the agenda addresses a specific location at 2300 Mitchell Avenue. Woody said the location is currently Zone C-1 and it is proposed to change to Zone M-1, which is a light manufacturing district as requested by the potential buyer of that building who wants to put a cultivation facility there.

“Technically, all that does is change the zoning from C-1 to M-1, which would allow any activity that would be allowed within M-1,” Woody said. “For them to put in a cultivation facility, not only do they need the zoning, but of course they would also need a license from the state to do so. Nobody in the state has received any licenses yet, that won’t happen until later this summer. That still may or may not happen, based on the license issuance separate from this zoning issue.”

Woody said the city council is trying to be proactive in addressing the issue of medical marijuana facilities.

“It was approved by voters across the state with a fairly high majority and it has been the majority of councils’ approach on this topic is to try to get ahead of the regulations that are coming out of the Department of Health and Senior Services who are setting the overall guidelines for the state, so as not to be a local impediment to whatever development that might occur from the passage of that earlier approval by the state,” Woody said.

Both items are up for second reading and will be voted on at the St. Joseph City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, April 22.