ONTARIO — Ontario City Council heard from residents on a familiar topic Wednesday night.
Parents, business owners and members of the church community all expressed their wishes for a permanent moratorium prohibiting the commercial sale of cannabis during public commentary.
Ontario City Council held a first reading of an indefinite moratorium on Wednesday night, and passed an extended moratorium through Nov. 30.
Mark Lehman, pastor at M1 church and an Ontario resident, asked council to pass a permanent moratorium on commercial cannabis sales.
“I would like to call on council to be great leaders,” he said. “Please do what is good for people.
“A brothel and a casino in Marshall Field would bring in revenue, but it’s not good for people. I think the best question is ‘What would a great leader do?’”
Brett Dewees, Ontario resident and the president of Forrest Machine Products in Lexington, also supported an indefinite moratorium.
“We don’t even know how to police against driving under the influence of marijuana,” he said. “It creates so many concerns that don’t need to be concerns.
“It’s not, in my opinion, morally right to have that here, and it also is against what I’m trying to raise my two boys to be. I don’t believe it’s for Ontario and I believe it leads to moral decay.”
Melinda Saltzgiver, a former teacher and Ontario High School alumna, echoed Dewees’ sentiments.
“I’m speaking not only as a parent, but also a community resident and advocate for the youth,” she said. “As adults, we can’t bring this into Ontario. We need to be the responsible ones and not have our kids exposed to it.”
Ben Mutti, a Village of Lexington resident and an advocate against recreational marijuana use, gathered a list of local criminal cases from around Richland County that involved marijuana use or cultivation spanning 2009 to August 2024.
“Studies show mind-altering marijuana is associated with increased risk to heart and brain health, and in teen years, it may impair brain development,” he said.
“These local examples reveal a correlation between mariajuana use and erratic and criminal behavior. It costs communities valuable resources, and in some cases, valuable lives.”
Ontario to read indefinite moratorium twice more, due for vote Nov. 20
Council President Eddie Gallo stated in previous meetings that council members can choose to pass an indefinite moratorium now and potentially repeal it later.
“We use the wording permanent, but in politics, there’s no such thing as permanent,” he said. “Most municipalities in our area have adopted the messaging of permanent, but all it does is it does away with the timeline component.
“If we choose to pass this and circumstances change or new representatives are elected, we can repeal it.”
According to the Richland County Board of Elections, 52% percent of Ontario voters in 2023 voted against legalizing marijuana at the state level. About 55% of Springfield Township voters and 50.1% of Richland County residents voted against Issue 2.
Want to make your voice heard?
City Council will discuss an indefinite moratorium on commercial cannabis sales at their meetings Nov. 6 and Nov. 20. Caucus meetings begin at 6:15 p.m. at 555 Stumbo Road North and council begins at 7 p.m. with an opportunity for public commentary before reading legislation.
Residents can also email council@ontarioohio.org or call their Ontario City Council representative. Community members who choose to call or email don’t need to offer their addresses, but Council President Eddie Gallo said doing so can give a resident’s voice more weight.
“We’ve gotten a lot of interest from outside the area wanting to open dispensaries here — places from Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Philadelphia,” Gallo said. “So, confirming resident emails are from people who live here will help us.”
Gallo also listed Richland County Sheriff Steve Sheldon, a school substance abuse prevention coordinator and Mayor’s Court magistrate as people who want to share their opinions with council members at the November meetings.
“We definitely appreciate the input and welcome comments from other city residents,” he said.