Franklin has become the latest city in the region to opt-in for medicinal marijuana sales after a “yes” vote on November’s ballot netted 2,700 votes out of 3,923 cast, or 68.82%, a turnout number Simpson County Clerk Austin Johnson said his office did not expect.

“We did assume that the numbers of our voter turnout would be affected a little bit by this referendum,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect, but we did know there’d probably be a few extra voters coming to vote for this in general.”

In July, the Franklin City Commission unanimously adopted an ordinance that prohibited “all cannabis operations” within city limits “due to the commonwealth’s expediting the issuance of licenses prior to a referendum vote.”

Applications for medicinal marijuana business licenses opened on July 1, with a lottery set for Nov. 25 to determine which businesses are granted licenses. The ordinance cited a ”lack of time” for Franklin to prepare for a potential influx of businesses.

Scott Crabtree, Franklin city attorney, stated in an email that since a vote was held and voters chose to opt-in, an ordinance repealing the prior prohibition is expected to be in place by January of next year.

Crabtree stated that at the local level, the city has “no real management or control” when it comes to medicinal marijuana.

“We can charge a regulatory fee and that is all. And, it is only $1,500 per year,” he stated. “It is mainly for a license to keep up with the number of facilities … it is also for the extra costs associated with regulating and policing traffic, etc.”

Amendments for medicinal marijuana were approved on Oct. 15 to Franklin’s zoning regulations. Crabtree stated under the new rules that marijuana cultivating facilities looking to set up shop in Franklin will need to be situated in an enclosed building with fencing and cameras.

“The only type of building that would be big enough for this type of structure would be industrial or in an industrial park, so that is where they are zoned,” he stated.

Marijuana cultivators are broken down into tiers. Under Franklin’s planning and zoning rules, the levels are:

• Tier I cultivators cannot exceed 2,500 square feet in indoor growth area
• Tier II cultivators cannot exceed 10,000 square feet of indoor growth area
• Tier III cultivators cannot exceed 25,000 square feet of indoor growth area
• Tier IV cultivators cannot exceed 50,000 square feet of indoor growth area.

According to the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis, 10 licenses will be granted for Tier I facilities. Tier II cultivators will see four licenses sent out and two licenses for Tier III. Currently, there are no plans from the Kentucky Medical Cannabis Program to grant licenses for Tier IV cultivators.