The Bozeman City Commission voted to cap the number of medical marijuana providers allowed in the city at 32 - or one for every 1,250 residents - for one year while the city tries out its new rules on the drug.

The commission voted 4-1 late Monday night to provisionally adopt the cap as part of an ordinance outlining how medical marijuana can be used, sold and grown in the city.

The cap would apply to providers who are required to have a city business license, or have more than three patients in the city.

"It would give us the opportunity to evaluate," said Commissioner Chris Mehl, who proposed the ceiling. "It's always much easier down the road to say, ‘Let's expand, than it is to say, ‘Oh boy, we need to shrink this down.'"

Mayor Jeff Krauss opposed the cap. He did not say why.

The city has issued 16 business licenses to medical marijuana providers and nine applications for licenses are currently under review, City Attorney Greg Sullivan said.

The cap and other medical marijuana regulations the commission adopted Monday night could become final as early as late August, or 30 days after they receive a second review and final adoption from the commission.

The rules would make it a misdemeanor for patients to use medical marijuana in public. The offense could result in a $500 fine and up to six months in jail.

In addition, the new rules call for a 1,000-foot buffer between schools and cannabis shops, city inspections of shops and banning shops from opening on Main Street downtown.

Current rules prohibit providers from operating out of neighborhood homes and only permit growing operations in areas on the outskirts of town zoned residential-suburban, where agricultural uses are allowed.

Amanda Ricker can be reached at aricker@dailychronicle.com or 582-2628.

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