ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY (WBFF) — A controversial bill to tighten restrictions on how close dispensaries can open to certain properties in Anne Arundel County failed along party lines during Monday night’s County Council meeting.
The bill would have required distances between dispensaries and properties such as schools or churches to be measured from lot line to lot line — the borders between two properties. It was aimed at a proposed Vital Dispensary at 91 Ritchie Highway, near two churches; under the bill, the dispensary could not have opened.
Democrats Pete Smith of Jessup, Allison Pickard of Millersville, Julie Hummer of Laurel and Lisa Rodvien of Annapolis voted against the bill. Republicans Nathan Volke of Pasadena, Amanda Fiedler of Severna Park and Shannon Leadbetter of South County voted in favor.
Volke, the bill’s sponsor, had pointed to similar legislation approved in other Maryland jurisdictions. But representatives of County Executive Steuart Pittman’s administration objected to using broad legislation to target a specific project, warning of effects on other developments. The bill, introduced in April, would have expired under the 90-day lifetime of county bills if the council had not voted Monday.
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