MANSFIELD – The length of Tuesday’s Mansfield City Council meeting depends on how much more time lawmakers want to spend talking about recreational cannabis dispensaries.

There aren’t many other bills on the agenda, and it looks like dispensaries here will be approved by the state sooner rather than later.

Mayor Jody Perry told members of the city’s Planning Commission on Friday that there was not enough time to properly complete the process needed to approve zoning changes specifically needed for cannabis dispensaries, which the state could approve for the city in the next few weeks.

This likely means there will be no vote on cannabis dispensary zoning on Tuesday unless MPs decide to go against the government’s legal advice.

Without this zoning change, it means that potential dispensaries must meet state and local requirements found in existing Mansfield regulations for commercial or industrial zones.

They would also have to have their plans approved by the Licensing and Development Office.

They would not have to abide by the specific zoning regulations and operating rules discussed by Perry and the City Council in recent weeks, which include requiring such dispensaries to operate only in B-2 (general business) zones.

The reason for this is the authorities’ decision that zoning changes must first be passed by the planning commission during its regularly scheduled meetings. The hastily convened special meeting on Friday would not be sufficient for this.

Perry, who said she still hopes to implement zoning changes that could impact the next wave of cannabis dispensaries, has instead proposed a bill that would limit the number of dispensaries to three.

During a special meeting last week, the council appeared to agree to approve four such dispensaries.

Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on repealing a ban on medical marijuana that a previous council approved several years ago.

In addition, the following city council meetings are scheduled for Tuesday:

– Voted on a bill to amend previously passed laws to honor organizations that donated money for a new flag and flagpole in Liberty Park. Donations of $2,700 each came from VFW Post 9943 and VFW Post 3494.

— Authorize the Director of Public Works to submit and accept a grant application from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Office of Aviation of the Ohio Dept. of Transportation to prepare construction plans for the rehabilitation of Runway 14-32 at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport. The work would be funded 95 percent by federal/state funds and 5 percent by local funds.