MILFORD, DE- Although it has been one week since Delaware's adult-use recreational cannabis market officially opened, Fresh Delaware says two of its three locations have been unable to participate due to city bans on recreational marijuana sales.
Fresh Delaware, a medical marijuana facility, has three locations across Delaware—in Newark, Seaford, and Milford.
Recreational sales began as planned on August 1 at its Newark location. However, city ordinances in Milford and Seaford have prevented recreational sales from starting at those stores.
In a phone call with WBOC, Seaford Mayor Matt MacCoy said the city's current ordinance requires following federal guidelines, which the city adopted in anticipation of federal legalization of recreational marijuana.
Since the state's recreational cannabis law came first and federal regulations have not changed, MacCoy says the city is working to revise that language.
MacCoy told WBOC that Seaford recently held a first reading of an ordinance that would change the city's policy to follow state rather than federal guidelines. A public hearing is scheduled for August 26 before the ordinance goes to the city council for a final vote.
Meanwhile, Milford city leaders say they have no plans to change their ordinance, passed on January 13, 2025. The ordinance prohibits recreational marijuana sales within city limits.
Todd Culotta, mayor of Milford, says he fully supports the current ordinance and emphasizes the need to respect the council's decision to prohibit recreational sales in the city.
"That was a decision made by the council. It wasn't unanimous, but that's the way it went, and that's how the council spoke."
Since Fresh Delaware's Milford location falls within those banned city limits, it remains blocked from opening for recreational sales.
Fresh Delaware has operated in Milford as a medical dispensary since the summer of 2024.
Justin Weisser, with Fresh Delaware, says the company was awarded a state recreational license in October 2024—months before the city ban was passed.
"October 29th 2024, we had written confirmation that we had an active retail license. We had active retail assets for our location in Milford. And then on October 30th, we received correspondence from the city telling us they were considering an ordinance that would ban it."
Although Weisser thought having zoning approval from the city and a state-awarded recreational license months before the ban was set would be enough, it wasn't.
"We thought we would be grandfathered in, frankly, because we already had our license."
Instead of ringing up customers during the first week of Delaware's new recreational market, as originally planned, Weisser says he has spent that time turning away interested customers to their surrounding competitors already open for business, looking to purchase recreational marijuana.
"At this point, we're stuck in Milford, so to speak, with a license that we paid $100,000 for that we cannot use."
Weisser told WBOC that due to these restrictions, Fresh Delaware has filed a lawsuit and taken legal action against the city of Milford.