DOVER, Del.- Dover City Council members are set to discuss a proposed moratorium on recreational marijuana tomorrow night. They say they want more time to hear from the community before finalizing state regulations. However, some business owners are frustrated by the delay.
Nicole Chick, owner of Puffster Smoke Shop in downtown Dover, hopes to convert her shop into a recreational business.
“I need to be able to transition and sell retail marijuana, or I could face losing the entire business,” Chick said.
However, the city has not yet figured out how to regulate potential weed sales. With the state deadline to submit proposed regulations approaching, Councilman David Anderson says Dover needs more time.
“The City of Dover is working through hearing all the many different points of view of the citizens, and we are not going to be able to have it before the state starts issuing licenses in September, so they want another 90 days,” Anderson said.
The city is now offering a survey for public input. Chick is skeptical about it.
“The survey that the city is putting out, I think that simply serves as a PR move to draw up some opposition, which is really coming from a select few people that is not a reflection of Dover,” she said.
Anderson disputes this, saying the survey is meant to gather genuine feedback.
“We’ve gotten a variety of points of view. We are trying to reconcile a path forward, and it is going to take us a little time to do it,” Anderson said.
Chick claims that multiple downtown business owners and community members have signed a petition supporting Puffster's transition to a recreational dispensary. Meanwhile, Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen and the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce have both voiced opposition to recreational weed sales in the city.
Dover is also considering a proposal that would only allow recreational sales within the Highway Commercial District along Route 13. If passed, pot shops would not be allowed anywhere in downtown Dover.