MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS INDUCE CHANGES TO LOCAL ORDINANCES

As the calendar moves closer to the December date when businesses can start applying for new medical marijuana facilities licenses in Michigan, area municipalities are continuing work on new ordinances allowing medical marijuana facilities in their jurisdictions.
The Benton Harbor City Commission is scheduled to vote on whether to opt in to the new state medical marijuana facilities laws at their Aug. 7 meeting. That meeting is set for 7 p.m. at the Benton Harbor City Hall on East Wall Street.
If they decide to opt in, they will become the fourth municipality in Berrien County to do so. The cities of Niles and Buchanan have already voted to do so as has Galien Township. All three entities have or are in the process of adopting ordinances to govern the granting of licenses and where facilities can be located.
The Buchanan City Commission met in special session in mid-July to adopt a new ordinance setting down regulations to allow medical marijuana facilities in the city. The ordinance was approved 3-1 with Patricia Moore voting no and Dan Vigansky absent.
Under terms of the new ordinance, the city will be allowing facilities in each of five categories: grower, processor, secure transporter, provisioning center/dispensary and and safety compliance facility. The city will be allowing up to five facilities in each of the last four categories and up to 15 facilities in the grower category.
The grower category includes Class A facilities with 500 marijuana plants, Class B facilities with 1,000 plants and Class C facilities with 1,500 plants. The new city ordinance allows for up to five facilities in each grower class subcategory.
Buchanan was one of the first Berrien County communities to decide to “opt in” to the new medical marijuana facilities laws. The new medical marijuana laws Gov. Rick Snyder signed last fall expand the types of medical marijuana facilities permitted and sets up a regulatory and licensing process similar to what is done for liquor licenses.
The state is in the process of setting up the licensing board with the first applications accepted in mid-December. Municipalities allowing facilities can charge an annual fee of up to $5,000 to cover administrative and enforcement costs. They also will get a share of the state taxes collected from the businesses.
The ordinance approved in Buchanan sets down rules for those wanting to open a medical marijuana facility in the city including information they have to submit, how permit applications will be evaluated, the operational standards the facilities will have to meet, permit denials and revocations and penalties for those who violate the ordinance.
The ordinance will become effective 20 days after its enactment which was July 17.
City Clerk Gladys Bybee said the focus now shifts to the city’s planning commission which will determine the zoning for the facilities and where they can be located. City officials have discussed allowing the facilities in the “uptown” area on the eastern side of the city and not downtown, but no final decision has been made.
The ordinance approved by the city commission last week doesn’t specify locations except that facilities cannot be within 1,000 feet of schools or 500 feet of a church.
The planning commission meets at 7 p.m. on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Buchanan City Hall.
Meanwhile, the Galien Township Board is also working on new ordinances after voting in April to “opt in” to the new state laws. Clerk Jennifer Richter said the board has received a draft ordinance from Township Attorney Sara Senica and is currently reviewing it.
Richter said the board again discussed the proposed ordinances at their July meeting but did not take a vote. They did decide informally to allow four of the five facility categories in their ordinances, she said.
“The general consensus was that a dispensary would not be appropriate in the township,” Richter noted. “We have no police force of our own and Buchanan is already planning to authorize up to five in their ordinance.”
She said the township board will continue to work on a new ordinance and has also directed the township planning commission to develop a zoning ordinance on where growing, processing, transporting and testing facilities can be located in the township.
Preliminary discussions call for the township to allow licenses for up to nine cultivation facilities, up to five processor facilities, two transport facilities and one testing facility.
Richter said she expects the township board to vote on the new ordinances in September or October. “We want to make sure we do it right,” she said. “People can’t apply until December, we’re in no rush.”
She noted that the township continues to get calls every day from people interested in opening medical marijuana facilities in the township. “People are still interested,” she said.
Some places have gone the other way and said a definite “no” to involvement with the new medical marijuana facilities laws. The village of Berrien Springs is in that category, going on the record to say they won’t be “opting in” to the new laws. Officials said in June that they felt the risks far outweighed any benefits they would receive.