Medical Marijuana Facilities regulations have been approved for Salisbury Township, even though no facilities are publicly proposed for the township.

By a vote of 4-0, with one commissioner absent, the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners approved the amendment to the township Zoning Ordinance at the Oct. 26 township meeting. Commissioner Debra Brinton made the motion, seconded by Commissioner James Seagreaves, to vote on the ordinance.

Ordinance No. 10-2017-614, which went into effect “immediately upon adoption,” amends Chapter 27 under township zoning to “include regulations for the establishment, construction and operation of medical marijuana facilities.”

The seven-page ordinance is available for public inspection during business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the township municipal building, 2900 S. Pike Ave. and on the township website, salisburytownshippa.org, under the Oct. 26 meeting agenda listing.

The following sections are incorporated into Chapter 27:

A. Academic Clinical Research Centers are permitted in the Commercial (C), and Industrial (I) districts.

B. Medical Marijuana Grower-Processors are permitted in the Commercial (C), and Industrial (I) districts.

C. Medical Marijuana Transport Vehicle Offices are permitted in either a Commercial (C) and Industrial (I) district.

D. Medical Marijuana Dispensaries are permitted in either a Commercial (C) and Industrial (I) District.

Chapter 27 details Definitions, Use Regulations, and Penalties.

A public hearing on the amendment was held prior to the Oct. 12 township meeting. Salisbury Township Solicitor Atty. John W. Ashley chaired the approximate five-minute hearing, for which no one from the public spoke.

No one from the public nor commissioners spoke about the ordinance prior to or after its adoption at the Oct. 26 township meeting.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health awarded two permits June 29 for medical marijuana dispensaries in the Lehigh Valley.

In Lehigh County, a permit was issued to Mission Pennsylvania II, LLC, for a dispensary at Emmaus Avenue Plaza, 2733 W. Emmaus Ave., Allentown. The site, a modified stone farmhouse once the location of Mario’s Pizza, is in the vicinity of Interstate 78 and South 31st Street, not far from a portion of Salisbury Township.

In Northampton County, a permit was issued to GuadCo, LLC, Brooklyn, N.Y., for a location at 1309 Stefko Blvd., Bethlehem.

Three medical marijuana dispensaries are allowed per one permit.

Salisbury was considered as a possible location for a medical-marijuana facility because Lehigh Valley Hospital - Cedar Crest is located in the township Medical Overlay District, which includes Cedar Crest Professional Park, which has medical offices, across from LVH along Cedar Crest Boulevard.

A representative of Bluestone Biomedical Group, Harrisburg, made a presentation before commissioners at the March 9 township meeting about the possibility of locating a medical marijuana dispensary in Cedar Crest Professional Park, 1255 S. Cedar Crest Blvd.

Following a June 13 public meeting to review the draft zoning ordinance amending Chapter 27 of the zoning ordinance, the Salisbury Township Planning Commission voted unanimously to submit the amendment to the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission for review.

By consensus, township commissioners at the Dec. 22, 2016, meeting asked Ashley to research an ordinance to regulate medical marijuana facilities.

Salisbury Township Director of Planning and Zoning Cynthia Sopka, Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer David J. Tettemer and Ashley crafted the township amendment based on an ordinance proposed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which licenses and regulates marijuana facilities.

A permit holder must have a pharmacist or doctor at its primary location, with additional locations staffed by a registered nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant. The Pensylvania Department of Health requires patients and doctors to have a history of treatment before issuing a certification for the use of medical cannabis.

Salisbury isn’t the only municipality in the Lehigh Valley to consider regulation of medical marijuana facilities. At various stages of consideration or approval is medical marijuana legislation in Emmaus; Upper Macungie Township, and Hanover, East Allen and William townships, all in Northampton County.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health granted 27 medical marijuana dispensary permits June 29 in the commonwealth.

No grower permits have been approved for the Lehigh Valley. A grower permit was approved in Berks County.

Lehigh and Northampton counties are in Region 2, the Northeast Region, which includes Carbon, Monroe, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Pike, Wayne, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties.

There are expected to be 52 dispensaries in the state. A list of locations is available on the Department of Health website: health.pa.gov.

The Department of Health could grant additional permits.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill to legalize medical marijuana in April 2016.

As of Oct. 13, there are 29 states and the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico that have approved medical-marijuana legislation.