Elk River dropped its city-run cannabis store plan

Elk River will not open Cannabound, the city-owned cannabis store it spent 2025 planning. The City Council voted unanimously on December 15, 2025 to stop the project. On October 6, 2026, MJBizDaily reported that Josh Collins, spokesperson for the Office of Cannabis Management, said Elk River had dropped out of the municipal-store group.

The city did not ban cannabis retail. It still sells THC beverages at its municipal liquor stores, and its cannabis page still tells private retailers how to register. MN Cannabis Hub does not sell cannabis. This is a news account of a city decision.

What Cannabound was

In the summer of 2025, Elk River was one of 13 Minnesota cities that had applied to run a municipal cannabis store. Brian Arola's August 5, 2025 MinnPost article attributed that list to OCM: Anoka, Blaine, Buffalo, Byron, Elk River, Grand Rapids, Lauderdale, Mounds View, St. Anthony Village, St. Joseph, Osseo, Owatonna, and Wyoming.

City Administrator Cal Portner told MinnPost the council was not enthusiastic about legalization and was "accepting of reality." He pointed at the city's liquor stores, which he said never fail tobacco or liquor compliance checks, and said the city believed it could do the same with cannabis. MinnPost reported that municipal liquor sales add nearly $1 million to Elk River's annual budget. The plan paired the new shop with an existing liquor store: Northbound would keep that name, and the cannabis side would be called Cannabound. A photo caption in the same story identified Jacquara Jackson as Cannabound manager.

That was the pitch. A city that already runs liquor stores would run one cannabis counter, keep the margin local, and use the compliance habits it already had.

The December 15 vote

Jim Boyle's December 28, 2025 Elk River Star News story is the local record of the reversal. After work sessions and debate, the council voted unanimously on December 15 to end Cannabound. The paper listed financial uncertainty, state regulatory concerns, community feedback, and concerns about the impact of cannabis sales. The business plan the council discontinued had first been approved on February 3, 2025.

The same vote approved the layoff of the Cannabound manager effective April 10, with a 13-week notice the paper described as consistent with earlier layoffs. The article was published December 28, 2025, so that April 10 date falls in 2026.

Council members said the liquor business and the cannabis store were separate questions. Jennifer Wagner said she understood the uncertainty about whether federal law would stop THC beverage sales, and that she did not see a reason to discontinue a product line already in place. "To me, that is separate from Cannabound," she said. Cory Grupa said, "The liquor store is the liquor store. We're talking about the marijuana store."

The Star News reported that the city will continue to sell THC beverages at Northbound and Westbound Liquors. How those hemp drinks differ from a dispensary menu is the subject of the Hub's dispensary versus liquor store THC guide.

Other comments in the Star News story:

• J. Brian Calva, elected in 2024, said he had gone along at first and then changed his mind after talking with constituents. "It's not about money to me. It's about the soul of the city. I don't want to back something I think is bad for anybody."
• Mayor John Dietz said he had reversed his earlier support. He said the city would face at least two years of losses before modest profits, and that only about a dozen Minnesota cities were pursuing municipal stores. "I don't think people want us to be in the marijuana business."
• Mike Beyer and Wagner pointed to uncertainty in the state rollout. Wagner said, "I don't think the state's got their ducks in a row."

The paper also said plans to replace the Northbound Liquor building, on land purchased from Coborn's, would continue. Cannabound had been drawn into that building with a separate entrance. The council agreed to keep the building the same size and to leave a shell that a private business could lease. Calva said he did not want the space to look like a city cannabis store. Dietz asked whether the city could restrict the future use. City Administrator Cal Portner said the council cannot bind a future council. Wagner said she would not put parameters on the space.

The Star News article, written in late December 2025, said Anoka officials expected their municipal store to open later that month and that Osseo planned a mid-2026 opening. Those timelines moved. Anoka Cannabis Company opened February 5, 2026. Osseo's Press Room broke ground September 8, 2026, with the city then pointing at November or December 2026. The December 2025 article is the right source for Elk River's vote. It is a stale source for when Anoka and Osseo opened.

The same article attributed to the League of Minnesota Cities a count of 12 of 588 cities pursuing municipal stores. That was a December 2025 attribution. It should not be mixed with later counts. In October 2026, Collins told MJBizDaily that 13 cities had applied in the first window.

What OCM said in October 2026

Margaret Jackson's October 6, 2026 MJBizDaily article, "Does government-run cannabis retail work?", is the source of the newsletter line about Elk River. A plain automated request for that URL was blocked when the Hub checked it on October 21, 2026. The article text was still available that day through a normal article retrieval. These are the Minnesota points in that story, attributed there to Collins or stated as the article's report:

• Cities and counties may apply for cannabis retail licenses under the same requirements as other applicants.
• Municipal stores buy through the same channels as private stores and pay the same prices.
• Thirteen cities applied for municipal cannabis licenses in the first window, and that window has closed.
• Saint Anthony Village was awarded its license on September 29.
• Grand Rapids has announced plans for its own dispensary.
• Elk River has dropped out, Collins said.
• The Osseo City Council in July approved up to $3 million in tax abatement for construction of a dispensary.
• The next licensing round is not likely to open before July. Collins said others may be waiting on that window, particularly as they see how other cities perform, and that Anoka will draw a lot of interest.

The Osseo dollar figure in that paragraph is MJBizDaily's. Osseo's own facilities page, checked for the Hub's September 16, 2026 article, lists $2.73 million in Series 2026A tax abatement bonds and a $1,422,000 contractor award. Use the city page for Osseo's published project cost. The MJBizDaily sentence is evidence that the trade press, citing the July council action, still treated Osseo as a city in the municipal group.

Two later public records line up with the Saint Anthony date in that article. OCM's licensed-businesses workbook dated October 12, 2026, which the Hub read from the office's spreadsheet, lists The Village Muni Cannabis Local at 2700 Highway 88, Suite 200, Saint Anthony, as a retail license issued September 29, 2026, expiring September 29, 2027, without a medical endorsement. A license row is not an opening announcement. CBS Minnesota reported on October 20, 2026 that the city-owned shop was set to open the following Saturday, October 24. This page does not treat that opening as completed.

The same October 12 workbook lists Anoka Cannabis Company at 839 East River Road, issued January 8, 2026. It does not list a business named Cannabound.

Minn. Stat. 342.14, subdivision 7 is the municipal path those cities used. OCM must issue a license to a city or county that wants to own a single municipal cannabis store if the city submits the required information, meets the minimum requirements, and pays the fees, unless issuing it would conflict with the office's statutory goals. A municipal license is not counted against the maximum number of licenses in a licensing period, and a municipal store is not counted against a city's cap on private retailers. A city can also apply in the ordinary retail pool. Collins's comment that Elk River dropped out is consistent with the council vote ten months earlier. The statute does not require a city that applied to finish the store.

What Elk River still allows

The city's cannabis page, read October 21, 2026, says cannabis and low-potency hemp products are licensed by OCM, that state law requires the city to allow cannabis businesses, and that retailers need a local registration on top of a state license. One sentence on that page still says OCM will issue licenses beginning in mid-2025. That line is leftover. Licenses have been issuing since 2025. The registration rules below it are the part that still governs a new shop.

The page says the city must allow one registration for every 12,000 residents, and that the council adopted an ordinance limiting retailers to a maximum of three, first come, first served. Minn. Stat. 342.13 uses a slightly different ratio: a city may limit licensed cannabis retailers, mezzobusinesses with a retail endorsement, and microbusinesses with a retail endorsement to no fewer than one registration for every 12,500 residents. The same section says a local government may not prohibit a licensed cannabis business, and may adopt reasonable time, place, and manner rules that do not amount to a ban. It may also prohibit a cannabis business within 1,000 feet of a school, or within 500 feet of a day care, a residential treatment facility, or an attraction in a public park that is regularly used by minors, including a playground or athletic field. Mayor Dietz told the Star News he wanted a clearer opt-out, like Colorado's. Minnesota's statute does not give cities that opt-out.

Elk River's posted retail registration fees are $500 initially and $1,000 at renewal for a cannabis retailer or a mezzobusiness retailer. A microbusiness retailer is $0 initially and $500 at renewal. A low-potency hemp retailer is $125 both times. The initial fee includes the first annual renewal. Questions on the page go to Community Development Director Zack Carlton for zoning and to the deputy city clerk for registration. Zoning for cannabis retail is pointed at the light industrial district.

The Star News story said that, based on population, up to three private cannabis retailers could receive state permission, and that private proposals were expected once the city stepped aside. The city's ordinance cap of three matches that sentence. The October 12, 2026 OCM workbook shows one cannabis retail site with the city field Elk River: MN Roots Elk River Dispensary, 18157 Carson Course NW, Suite B, Elk River, MN 55330. The row is a mezzobusiness with retail activity, issued July 6, 2026, expiring July 6, 2027, and not marked medical. A row on the licensed-businesses list means the state has licensed a retail site. It does not, by itself, confirm today's hours or that the door is open. The Elk River dispensary page is the Hub's current directory for that city, and the license lookup is the public license list.

Low-potency hemp retailers are a separate layer. The same workbook includes hemp retail addresses in Elk River, including liquor and convenience locations. Those are not Cannabound, and they are not a substitute for the cannabis retail registration described above. The statewide dispensary directory is the shop list. The rules on possession and purchase are in the Minnesota cannabis laws guide.

A private mezzobusiness license is also a different asset from a city store. In October 2026 a broker advertised a paper mezzobusiness license for $450,000. That ad, and the transfer limits around it, are covered in a Minnesota mezzobusiness license listed for $450,000. Elk River's fee schedule happens to include a mezzobusiness retailer registration. The city fee is not the price of the state license.

What a reader can take from the two dates

December 15, 2025 is the council's decision. October 6, 2026 is OCM, through Collins, telling a trade reporter that the city is no longer in the municipal group. Nothing in the later interview reopened Cannabound. The useful local facts for someone in Elk River are narrower than the national "does government retail work" headline:

• The city is not opening a cannabis store under the Cannabound name.
• THC beverages remain at the two municipal liquor stores, by the council's December 2025 decision.
• Private cannabis retailers can still seek a local registration, up to the ordinance cap of three, if they hold the state license the registration requires.
• One cannabis retail site in the city, MN Roots, was on OCM's October 12, 2026 list.
• Cities that stayed on the municipal path are elsewhere. Anoka is the open example. Saint Anthony Village holds a retail license issued September 29, 2026. Osseo is in construction. The next licensing round, Collins told MJBizDaily, is not likely to open before July.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the Elk River City Council open a city-owned cannabis store?

No. On December 15, 2025 the council voted unanimously to discontinue the Cannabound business plan, which it had approved on February 3, 2025. OCM's spokesperson told MJBizDaily on October 6, 2026 that Elk River had dropped out.

Does Elk River still sell THC drinks at Northbound and Westbound Liquors?

The Elk River Star News reported on December 28, 2025 that the city will continue THC beverage sales at Northbound and Westbound Liquors. Council members described that product line as separate from the canceled cannabis store.

How many private cannabis retailers can Elk River register?

The city cannabis page says the council limited cannabis retailers to a maximum of three, first come, first served. State law lets a city set a cap no lower than one registration per 12,500 residents, and it bars a city from prohibiting licensed cannabis businesses outright.

Is MN Roots the municipal cannabis store Elk River canceled?

No. Cannabound was the city's own project, and the council ended it. OCM's October 12, 2026 licensed-businesses workbook lists MN Roots Elk River Dispensary as a mezzobusiness retail site issued July 6, 2026. That workbook does not list Cannabound.

Sources

• Jim Boyle, "Elk River council halts municipal cannabis store plan amid community, financial concerns," Elk River Star News, December 28, 2025: https://www.hometownsource.com/elk_river_star_news/elk-river-council-halts-municipal-cannabis-store-plan-amid-community-financial-concerns/article_d0250e3c-7cca-47e8-abd4-a3d21211dcd8.html
• Brian Arola, "Blazing new trails: These 13 Minnesota cities are considering municipal cannabis stores," MinnPost, August 5, 2025: https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota/2025/08/blazing-new-trails-these-13-minnesota-cities-are-considering-municipal-cannabis-stores/
• Margaret Jackson, "Does government-run cannabis retail work?," MJBizDaily, October 6, 2026: https://mjbizdaily.com/news/does-government-run-cannabis-retail-work/618419/
• City of Elk River, Cannabis page, read October 21, 2026: https://www.elkrivermn.gov/1802/Cannabis
• Minn. Stat. 342.13, local control, and Minn. Stat. 342.14, subdivision 7, municipal stores, Revisor of Statutes, read October 21, 2026: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/342.13 and https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/342.14
• Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management, licensed-businesses workbook dated October 12, 2026: https://mn.gov/ocm/assets/MN_OCM_licensed_businesses_101226_tcm1202-714418.xlsx
• CBS Minnesota, October 20, 2026, report that Saint Anthony Village's city-owned shop was set to open the following Saturday: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/st-anthony-village-minnesota-cannabis-dispensary/

MN Cannabis Hub does not sell cannabis. This is a news write-up, not a paid placement.