Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware’s recreational marijuana industry is set to launch soon, but zoning barriers imposed by local municipalities and counties have made it difficult for some cannabis operators to find a place to open. A state bill aimed at overruling those local objections is headed to its final vote, but local officials are pushing back, saying it would interfere with local control over land use issues.
State lawmakers are stepping into the political fight over where marijuana shops should be located within Delaware communities with legislation that local governments are calling an overreach.
Senate Bill 75 would require Delaware’s three counties to reduce buffer zones between marijuana dispensaries and sensitive areas, such as schools, treatment facilities, and libraries, down to no more than 500 feet.
The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Trey Paradee (D-Dover), also requires that existing medical marijuana businesses that were granted conversion licenses to become retail stores be allowed to continue operating in their current locations – even if local zoning laws change in the future.
The bill is headed to a vote of the full House of Representatives next week, according to one lawmaker.
If it passes in the House, it would proceed to the desk of Gov. Matt Meyer, whose office declined to comment when asked if he supports the measure.
The bill is moving through the legislature, just as Delaware’s marijuana industry prepares to launch with 125 licensed operators across cultivation, manufacturing, testing, and retail sales.
Many of those business operators say they have struggled to find places to operate because of strict local regulations.
Those have become particularly aggressive in Sussex County, where more than half of municipalities have outlawed such businesses. The county has also set the widest buffers between shops and sensitive areas at 3,000 feet.
New Castle County, Delaware’s northernmost and most populous county, currently has its buffer set at 1,000 feet.
“Many of the businesses like mine have been sold licenses that will never be able to be operational under the current ordinances,” said Patrick Galloway, an awardee of a cultivation license in Sussex County, during a House Elections and Government Affairs committee meeting in April.
Who should say what gets to go where?
While Paradee said his legislation aims to ease the local restrictions on marijuana shops, local leaders say the bill would override municipal and county governments’ authority to decide land use and zoning matters.
On Wednesday, the Delaware League of Local Governance, an organization that represents counties, cities and towns across the state, sent a letter to the General Assembly, urging lawmakers to protect and reaffirm the authority of municipalities in zoning and land-use decisions.
“Zoning is not simply a bureaucratic process — it is a key tool that shapes how our communities and neighborhoods grow, how traffic flows, where businesses operate, and how housing is developed. Local leaders and planning boards are far better positioned than state or federal entities to assess the on-the-ground realities of infrastructure capacity, environmental impact, and community character,” the letter read.
Nick Smith, president of the Delaware League of Local Governance and mayor of Clayton, told Spotlight Delaware that the letter was in response to Paradee’s bill, in addition to other state bills that would override local control by forcing counties and local governments to permit things like electrical substations and accessory dwelling units.
Among those who signed the letter were Sussex County Council President Doug Hudson, Kent County Levy Court Commissioner Jeff Hall and Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen.
The New Castle County executive’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
Outside of the executive’s office, New Castle County Councilman David Carter previously told Spotlight Delaware that he believes the county’s current zoning is appropriate and accommodating for all of the marijuana licenses allocated to the county.
Coincidentally, Paradee has also said that he is responsible for the language in Delaware’s original marijuana legalization law that gave counties zoning authority over marijuana establishments.
When crafting Delaware’s marijuana legalization bill two years ago, he said the local approach had worked in other states and reflected broad legislative consensus to keep shops out of downtown Dover and other historic areas.
Basically a ‘ban’?
A handful of critics of Paradee’s bill in the statehouse have also taken up the cause for local governments.
During the bill’s Senate floor vote in April, Senate Minority Whip Brian Pettyjohn (R-Georgetown) said an attempt to override local control on zoning could set a dangerous precedent.
But House Majority Whip Ed Osienski (D-Newark), who spearheaded the effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Delaware for a decade and is co-sponsoring Paradee’s marijuana buffer bill, said the measure is not unprecedented, noting that lawmakers have passed similar proposals related to land use in the past.
“The way I look at it is that it’s so restrictive, especially in Sussex County, that basically it’s a ban on something that went through the General Assembly process. So I feel we have no choice but to address it this way,” he said.
Osienski says that he hasn’t spoken to any local officials directly, but expects to hear more concerns about the bill on the floor.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that New Castle County officials did not respond to a request to comment. County Council officials had responded. The story has been corrected.
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