MORGANTOWN — Senate Bill 12, which gives local elected officials oversight of decisions made by their county health departments, was passed on March 4, 2021, and went into effect June 2.
So, if a board of health passed an ordinance on May 27, but it doesn’t take effect until June 26, can it be struck down or amended by a body like the county commission?
Monongalia County Commission President Sean Sikora said on Wednesday that the commission intends to get an answer to that question as it digs into a set of medical cannabis dispensary regulations recently passed by the county’s board of health.
Sikora’s comments came after Mark J. Nesselroad of Black Diamond Realty addressed the commission. Black Diamond Realty owns property tied to multiple medical cannabis firms approved for business in Monongalia County.
During his remarks, Nesselroad called the BOH’s actions “untimely” and “irresponsible,” and asked the commission to use the powers granted under SB 12 to stop the regulations from taking effect.
“If the commission doesn’t take action, I don’t know where it’s going to end up, but it’s not going to be good,” he said. “I don’t think anybody wants that.”
After nearly eight months of inactivity on the topic — and six days before SB 12 took effect — the BOH voted unanimously on May 27 to approve the regulations, which include requirements like an on-site physician, pharmacist, physician assistant or nurse practitioner, as well as regulations pertaining to security, product storage and dispensary locations, among other things.
The question of whether the commission has standing to block or amend the regulations is noteworthy as the county has already received legal counsel advising the BOH regulations delve into areas beyond what was provided for by the state legislature and “out of the lane of the health department.”
The health department hired its own counsel, which provided conflicting advice.
Nesselroad said amendments to the BOH regulations that were put up for public comment the day after the document was passed don’t fix the issue — though they would grandfather in the 14 dispensaries approved for Monongalia County, but only in terms of additional local regulations on proximity to things like parks, libraries and other dispensaries.
In response to the argument that 14 dispensaries will be too many for Monongalia County, and that there could be more medical cannabis shops than Sheetz gas stations, Nesselroad said that’s not the local health department’s concern.
“I’ve not counted the number of pharmacies in this county, but I’d bet there are a couple dozen pharmacies. [Dispensaries] are much more akin to a pharmacy than a Sheetz, and when you get into counting the numbers of types of businesses, I think you get into zoning at that point. So I would say let the law of supply and demand figure that out.”
Both the Monongalia County Commission and the Monongalia County Health Department opposed the passage of SB 12.
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