EAST GRAND FORKS – With East Grand Forks’ cannabis sales moratorium set to end later this year, the city is preparing its regulations and guidelines for businesses looking to set up shop in the city.

The East Grand Forks City Council has discussed some proposals for how to craft ordinances, ranging from how many businesses it would like to allow within the boundaries and where it would like to have businesses, for example. According to City Manager Reid Huttunen, he expects city staff to come up with formal changes to the ordinances sometime in November, before the moratorium expires.

Under Minnesota law, no city can impose a moratorium on cannabis sales after the end of the year. East Grand Forks, like many cities across the state,

imposed a moratorium after cannabis was legalized in 2023

to give the city time to create rules about businesses within its limits. Since legalization, the state has not been very forthcoming with information to local governments, some city leaders have said.

“They never officially sent it. It suddenly appeared on their website,” Huttunen said. “I had been doing regular checks to see what was going on so I could have my group planning meetings with our staff and then one day, ‘by the way, here’s the local government guidance.’ “

That guide provides an introduction to

information on how licensing and possible zoning would work

. The city is allowed to limit retail businesses, and East Grand Forks has discussed the possibility of allowing two businesses within the city: one within the downtown business district and another in the freeway business district. The city could also see manufacturing and distribution businesses, which do not follow the same numerical restrictions by locality, in industrial areas.

The city is not planning a municipal cannabis business, which is allowed in Minnesota. He

Crookston City Council discussed the option as a way

for the city to generate additional income. There wasn’t as much appetite in East Grand Forks and there is also a lack of precedent for the city to run a business, such as a municipal liquor store. Other Minnesota cities have liquor stores, but East Grand Forks never has.

Also as part of the ordinance talks, the city has discussed creating a business registry.

“We have the option to establish a registry for local cannabis businesses.”

Huttunen told the council on October 8.

“We don’t currently have that, but if that’s the council’s wish, we could implement registration regulations.”

The city does not issue a general business license. To facilitate the city’s outreach and ability to communicate with the business community, the city has proposed that businesses register to create a registry of contact information.

“I think we should have a registration process for all local businesses,” City Attorney Ron Galstad told the Council on October 8. “It would help the (Economic Development Authority). “It helps with notification and just helps us know who is actually operating a business within the city.”

Regardless of eventual ordinances, most cannabis licenses are handled by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management. The office still only has an acting director, has not yet begun issuing business licenses, and a social equity license lottery designed to spur business openings has yet to be completed. Many of the processes the Legislature created when it legalized cannabis are still in their infancy and have not been fully tested.

“That’s still the big unknown for everyone,” Huttunen said. “No one knows in practice what this will be like when they start issuing licenses. For our sake, we just want to make sure we have the ordinance in place so that we at least have a framework of expectations.”

He added: “I have a feeling that one day it will come to our door and the state will say, ‘We have a licensee who is ready to open a business.’ “

Voigt covers government in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks.