GALIEN COMMUNITY LEADERS ASKED TO APPROVE A MEDICAL MARIJUANA FACILITY

GALIEN – Some area communities are facing some hard choices in coming months as they decide whether to allow new medical marjuana facilities to open in their localities. Galien community leaders are among those being asked to approve a medical marijuana facility.
New Buffalo resident Carie O’Donnell is asking Galien Township to amend its zoning ordinance to allow her to grow marijuana on acreage she owns on Olive Branch Road. She is a registered caregiver and also a medical marijuana patient as she suffers from a post traumatic stress disorder.
She told Galien Township planning commissioners that only wants to have a facility to grow marijuana, not dispense it. She said she plans to hire local residents to work in her business and give back to the community in anyway she can.
She also defended the use of medical marijuana, noting there several different types and uses for the plant including helping children with seizure disorders.
Residents in attendance raised a number of concerns including security and the lowering of property values. Others said they believe such businesses will be closely monitored as they are in other states and don’t believe they would be a problem.
Galien Township planning commissioners discussed O’Donnell’s proposal at their meeting last week and ended up tabling the matter to get more information. Township Clerk Jennifer Richter said commissioners and other township officials will be attending a workshop offered by the Michigan State University Extension Service in early March on the new law.
Jennifer Rigterink of the Michigan Municipal League said last week that many communities are debating whether to allow medical marijuana facilities. “Communities are all over the place,” she said. “We have communities inquiring about what other communities are doing. Some are trying to educate and prepare themselves on the new act.”
She said the impetus for these new proposals is the package of laws Gov. Rick Snyder signed last September as part of an effort to bring clarity to the 2008 voter approved medical marijuana law. The new laws expands the types of medical marijuana facilities permitted and sets up a regulatory and licensing process similar to what is done for liquor licenses.
Five categories of facilities are allowed for all steps of marijuana production including the selling of seeds, propagation, harvesting and processing, transporting the product, testing the product, delivery and selling the product. The state must still set up the licensing board and the first applications won’t be accepted until the end of this year.
Municipalities can choose whether to allow any of the facilities within their boundaries. If they do choose to allow any of them, they must adopt new ordinances authorizing the facilities and where they can be located. Municipalities allowing facilities can charge an annual fee of up to $5,000 to cover administrative and enforcement costs.
“The law is very flexible, a municipality can choose one type of facilty, all of them or none,” she said. “They have to look at what makes most sense for them … Communities could see some benefits from not only the annual fee they can charge but also if a business moves into a blighted or vacant building and brings in more property tax revenue.”
Rigterink said the MSU Extension Service isn’t the only entity conducting workshops and training on the new laws. She said the Michigan Municipal League is looking at hosting educational programs in the late spring and early summer for MML members.