Missouri regulators cannot deny an application for a medical marijuana dispensary license before a hearing challenging zoning rules is held later this month, a judge ruled.
After the filing, Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green ruled that the state cannot reject the license application based on the city’s zoning rules until a Jan. 27 hearing.
The dispensary’s suit contends the city zoning rules creates an undue burden on the applicant, violating the Missouri Constitution.
Independence’s zoning eliminated 88% of the commercially zoned space in the city that could be used by dispensaries, Healing Center’s suit alleges.
“If nobody can sell (medical marijuana) then nobody can buy it,” Lowell Pearson, attorney for the plaintiff, told the Star. He also described the zoning restrictions as an “extraordinary restraint.”
