“When the governor calls and says, ‘Would you consider taking a look at this?’, the County Council is certainly open-minded.”
By Maggie Reynolds, Spotlight Delaware
Sussex County Council will consider easing its restrictions on recreational marijuana sales, some of the toughest in the state, after county officials were nudged by Gov. Matt Meyer (D).
Later this fall, council members will consider changing the county’s marijuana zoning ordinance, decreasing the distance required between a marijuana store and a town boundary, as well as the required distance from a school or church.
The proposed ordinance change–and Meyer’s request that county leaders consider it–comes two months after recreational marijuana sale was legalized in Delaware. It also follows a decision by the governor earlier this summer to veto a bill that would have limited individual counties’ abilities to restrict marijuana establishment operations.
“When the governor calls and says, ‘Would you consider taking a look at this?’, the County Council is certainly open-minded,” Sussex County Administrator Todd Lawson told Spotlight Delaware.
Historically, Sussex has been the strictest of Delaware’s three counties on marijuana regulations. Its proposed ordinance changes would bring the southernmost region more in line with the rest of the state.
The Governor’s nudge
The state legislature passed Senate Bill 75 in June, limiting the restrictions that individual counties could impose on the operation of marijuana establishments. In a surprising departure from his initial support for the bill, however, Meyer vetoed SB 75 in August, citing a belief that local land use decisions should be left up to the counties.
When Meyer vetoed the bill, he told Sussex County to look at adjusting its existing marijuana zoning ordinance, which had been in place since the spring of 2024, Lawson told Spotlight Delaware.
The proposed ordinance change, which Assistant County Attorney Vince Robertson presented to the County Council on September 23, would reduce the required distance between a dispensary and any town boundary from 3 miles to a half mile.
It would also allow dispensaries to operate in less dense commercial areas. Currently, they are only allowed in areas zoned for heavy commercial use, like along Route 1.
Council members are also considering decreasing the required 3 miles of separation between dispensaries and schools, churches, substance abuse treatment facilities and other marijuana retail establishments, Robertson said at the September 23 meeting, but the exact details will be left up for discussion at the public hearings on the ordinance.
In New Castle County, dispensaries are permitted in commercial areas at least 1,000 feet from “sensitive areas,” like schools and churches, and at least 1 mile from any existing dispensary. Kent County does not have specific retail marijuana regulations, so they are treated like other retail stores in county code, County Planning Director Sarah Kiefer said.
All three newly elected members of the County Council–Matt Lloyd, Steve McCarron and Jane Gruenebaum–each expressed early support for the proposed ordinance change when asked by Spotlight Delaware. Council President Douglas Hudson and Vice President John Rieley did not respond to requests for comment on the topic.
McCarron said he operates a restaurant neighboring the Fresh Dispensary in Seaford and has been impressed by the professionalism and security of the store, which changed his opinion on retail marijuana shops in the county.
“They’ve been a great neighbor,” he said. “I can’t say enough good things about them.”
Gruenebaum said she is in favor of the ordinance change because it would bring the marijuana rules closer to the distance requirements for liquor stores, which have a standard regulation under Delaware state code.
Liquor stores are permitted in any commercial zone under state code. They must be placed with consideration of churches, schools and substance abuse facilities, Robertson said at the Sept. 23 council meeting, but there is currently no specific distance requirement for liquor stores like there is for marijuana retail stores.
The proposed marijuana ordinance will next be discussed at the Sussex County Planning and Zoning public hearing on October 15.
Town authority
While the marijuana ordinance applies to all unincorporated county land, each town within the county is able to make its own retail marijuana regulations.
All of the 25 towns in Sussex County have outlawed retail marijuana entirely, except for Seaford, Georgetown and Frankford.
Seaford amended its regulations in late August, allowing Fresh Dispensary, which had been operating only for medical sales since 2023, to begin recreational sales as well on October 4.
Justin Weisser, owner of Fresh Delaware, which also has locations in Newark and Milford, said he is pleased to begin recreational business in Seaford, because the store had been losing revenue on medical sales since it opened.
“We’re not doing much business medically speaking,” Weisser said. “The store doesn’t make any money right now.”
The state had encouraged Weisser’s company to open a medical marijuana location in Seaford because there are not any other medical marijuana dispensaries in western Sussex County, he added.
The town of Frankford never passed an ordinance regulating retail marijuana, which allowed The Farm Dispensary to open a medical and recreational store within town limits on July 31, owner Jen Stark said.
Stark said the store’s business has primarily been recreational so far, because people have not yet had time to get established on the medical patient list.
Frankford Town Manager Sheldon Hudson described the town’s approach of not creating its own marijuana ordinance as being the “salmon swimming up stream” compared to the rest of Sussex County.
However, Hudson said he hopes The Farm’s presence will encourage more foot traffic, and in turn bring additional businesses to the town.
“We’re looking at it as part of an overall economic development,” he said.
Georgetown was the first municipality in Sussex County to allow recreational marijuana, when it passed an ordinance during the summer of 2024 permitting retail sales once the state rules went into effect, Mayor Bill West said.
Business, community response
In addition to the three recreational marijuana stores operating within town limits in Sussex County, there are two stores operating outside of municipal boundaries near Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, respectively. All of the eastern Sussex beach towns have outlawed retail marijuana within town limits.
Management staff at Columbia Care Rehoboth, which has been doing medical sales since 2019, described the addition of recreational sales as overwhelmingly positive for Sussex County residents.
“The community as a whole has been extremely responsive, curious–it’s a whole experience,” Supervisor of Retail Operations Sherri Kohler said.
Kohler said the store, located at the Tanger Outlets on the west side of Route 1, has attracted a mix of tourists and locals.
Lindsay Lopez, the store’s manager of retail operations, said the addition of retail has also allowed the store to nearly double its number of employees.
“It’s creating jobs for people who have been passionate about this for a long time, and now they have a platform for community outreach,” Lopez said.
Thrive Dispensary, located off Route 9 near Lewes, also added recreational sales on Aug. 1. Emily Wilkins, the store’s vice president of compliance and quality, said she would be eager to consider expanding to another location in Sussex County, if the proposed zoning changes are enacted.
Because both Columbia Care and Thrive began operation before 2024, the stores were grandfathered into the previous medical marijuana zoning requirements, before the more strict Sussex County ordinance went into effect in 2024.
Wilkins, who described herself as “western Sussex born and bred,” said she does not believe that the current marijuana regulations in the county match the attitude of Sussex County residents toward marijuana use.
“I don’t think that the sentiment matches what the government is doing right now,” she said.
This story was first published by Spotlight Delaware.
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
The post Delaware County To Consider Easing Marijuana Business Restrictions In Line With Governor’s Request appeared first on Marijuana Moment.
