WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) — A proposed Westerville ordinance would further enshrine Ohio law prohibiting marijuana businesses from being near a school or church.

Westerville City Council held a second reading on Jan. 21 for a measure that would ban retail dispensaries from being located within 500 feet of a school, church, library, playground or park. The proposal comes after voters in Ohio approved Issue 2 in November 2023 to legalize recreational marijuana. Watch a previous NBC4 report on Ohio’s marijuana laws in the video player above.

“The purpose and intent of this chapter is to provide for the regulation of marijuana activities and uses within the city of Westerville pursuant to Ohio’s marijuana laws,” the proposed ordinance states. “Nothing herein is intended to prohibit or limit home grow or prohibit or restrict an activity that is authorized for an adult-use consumer.”

The measure would require marijuana to be sold by a medical dispensary or a dual-use dispensary and states that “there shall be no more than two dispensaries of any kind within the city.” However, these provisions are why Westerville resident John Gatiss argues the city is implementing a “de facto” marijuana ban.

“The city can’t ban dispensaries outright, cause it would go against the will of the voters,” said Gatiss during the Jan. 21 meeting. “Instead, you’ve created a de facto ban where the needle someone would have to thread has become narrow to such a degree that opening a dispensary could be virtually impossible.”

Gatiss noted Westerville has interpreted the statutory bar on dispensaries within 500 feet of parks, churches, and schools to include the city’s trail network, which has blocked off a huge portion of the city. He also claimed Ohio will not be issuing any more dual-use licenses until sometime in 2026.

Westerville’s proposal is similar to a Delaware resolution that passed last year to prohibit establishments whose business “is the sale of tobacco or related products, vapor or vapor products, or cannabis” from being located within 500 feet of a school, church, library, playground or park.

Delaware’s measure also bans two or more of these businesses from being located within a mile of each other if they are “of the same use,” meaning a vape shop can not be within a mile of another a vape shop, but a cannabis dispensary can be near a vape shop. The resolution originally limited businesses from being located within two miles of each other, but the planning commission amended the proposal out of concern it would be too restrictive.

Cities like Westerville and Delaware are advancing these measures after at least 56 Ohio municipalities or townships passed moratoriums prohibiting adult-use cannabis businesses. Like a majority of other states that have legalized recreational cannabis, Ohio allows local jurisdictions to enact ordinances to prohibit or limit the sale of marijuana within their boundaries.

A large number of the bans are set to be enacted for a period, rather than indefinitely. They commonly cite the need for time to review current ordinances and identify conflicting laws. Multiple municipalities indicated an intent to study current law and create recommendations once the final state rules for the recreational industry are adopted.