A public hearing is set for Tuesday to give the Mt. Pleasant City Commission input on the proposed ordinance to allow medical marijuana facilities in the city.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. May 29 at City Hall.
Under the proposed ordinance, the city would begin accepting applications for the businesses on Oct. 1 with a deadline of Nov. 30. If necessary, a lottery drawing would be held in December to determine who gets approved locally.
The city would allow all five types of state-sanctioned businesses: Grow operations, processing centers, provisioning centers (also called dispensaries), secure transporters and safety compliance facilities.
The ordinance limits the number of provisioning centers and grow operations to three. There would be no limit on the number of processing centers, secure transporters and safety compliance businesses allowed.
All five types would be allowed in areas zoned for industrial, and provisioning centers would be allowed in some of the commercial districts, including parts of Mission and Pickard and part of downtown.
The Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 timeframe is to allow applicants enough time to get phase one approval from the state before they apply at the local level.
Based on comments at previous meetings, the most controversial parts of the proposed ordinance are whether there should be limits on the number of the businesses and if so how many, if there should be buffer zones and how many feet should they be, and if the city should use a lottery to determine who gets a license if there are more applicants than allowed.
City commissioners have scheduled a special work session for 6:30 p.m. June 4 to discuss the input they get at the public hearing and to consider if they want to make any changes to the draft ordinance.
City commissioners have stressed they want to hear from residents and others who would be affected by the ordinance. In addition to the public hearing, people can email or send letters.
“We are very interested in getting public input before the City Commission takes final action on the ordinance,” City Manager Nancy Ridley said. “The City Commission has indicated they don’t plan to take action the night of the 29th. They want to hear the public input, have some time to think about it. They’ve scheduled a special work session for June 4th to discuss what’s obtained in that public comment before they decide when they’re going to vote on it.
“They really do desire public input, both from people that are supportive of the process and those that have concerns about the process,” she said.
Mayor Allison Quast Lents agreed.
“The City Commission has had numerous conversations regarding the drafting of this ordinance over the last year,” she said. “I believe those conversations have been focused on finding a balance between having facilities that can meet the needs of patients for which medical marijuana is effective with the uncertain or unintended consequences of allowing businesses in the community that are illegal at the federal level.
“I am proud of this draft ordinance, which required give and take by all commissioners. It allows our community to learn from the actual results and make future decisions based on actual experiences in our community. We are very interested in hearing from our residents regarding how they feel about what I believe is the balance and compromises that were reached in this draft ordinance.”
Here is a look at some of the details of the ordinance:
The deadlines
The Oct. 1 to Nov. 30 timetable for receiving applications reflects concerns that the state is facing a long process in approving applicants. In all, the state panel in charge of awarding the licenses has more than 500 applicants to consider statewide.
Applicants have to apply to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs for prequalification.
Mt. Pleasant’s draft ordinance requires applicants to have received the first phase of approval from the state, which includes having a background check.
It’s been a slow process. At the first state meeting, only three applicants were considered and as of mid-May only nine had been approved statewide. No one who wants to open a local facility has been approved by the state yet.
“This recommendation allows more meetings of the state licensing board for potential applicants to receive Phase I approval from the state before the application deadline,” Ridley said.
“Our recommendation of the dates is trying to balance moving the licensing process along while also not knowing how fast the state is going to move on Phase I approvals and the impact that has on potential eligible applicants,” she added.
The Lottery
If the commission goes ahead with a limit of three for the provisioning centers and grow operations, there likely will be more applicants than the amount allowed locally.
That brings up the issue of how the city or the City Commission would determine who gets approval. Earlier, commissioners debated having the City Commission make the decision based on the merits of the applicants versus using a lottery.
As of now, the draft ordinance calls for a lottery drawing, where applicants’ names would be drawn at a public meeting to see who gets the approval.
The city’s attorney indicated the city cannot legally give preference to local applicants.
How many?
Related to the lottery issue is how many of the businesses the city will allow.
The proposed ordinance would allow for up to three provisioning centers and grow operations.
The draft ordinance now has no limit on the number of processing centers, secure transporters and quality compliance facilities. That reflects a change recommended by the Planning Commission after its own public hearing on May 10.
Buffer zones
This issue has taken up a great deal of the commission’s time in the past year.
Mt. Pleasant Public Schools, Sacred Heart Academy and Central Michigan University have all requested buffer zones.
The draft ordinance calls for a buffer zone of 1,000 feet for K-12 schools, both public and private, and a 500-foot buffer zone for CMU’s main campus, with the exception of the area east of Mission Street.
That exemption would open up potential business space on Mission, roughly south of Big Boy to the southern city limits.
The Planning Commission recommended a similar exemption for downtown, with the area north of Broadway Street within the Central Business Tax Increment Financing Authority District excluded from the buffer zone.
That would amount to a buffer zone of about 360 feet from Sacred Heart, according to the city.
The big picture
Of course, this all assumes the city will opt into the state law and allow medical marijuana businesses in the city.
Most of the comments at public comment over the past year have been in favor, with only a few opposing it. The city did receive a letter of opposition from a resident earlier this month.
No one at the May 10 Planning Commission hearing spoke against opting in overall.
Other regulations
Each facility would be required to adhere to standards regulating odor, lighting and other issues. Each facility would need to go before the Planning Commission for a special use permit.
On-site consumption of marijuana would be prohibited on the premises of any of the businesses.
How to give input
You can speak at the public hearing on May 29. The hearing is part of the City Commission meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. Comments are limited to five minutes per person.
Note that because of the Memorial Day holiday, the meeting is on a Tuesday.
You also can give input via email, letters or phone. Letters may be sent to City Hall at 320 W. Broadway. Phone calls should be directed to the city manager’s office at 989-779-5323.
Emails can be sent to the city manager at manager@mt-pleasant.org or the city commissioners.
Those emails are:
Mayor Allison Quast Lents: alents@mt-pleasant.org
Vice Mayor Nicholas Madaj: nmadaj@mt-pleasant.org
Commissioner Lori Gillis: lgillis@mt-pleasant.org
Commissioner William Joseph: wjoseph@mt-pleasant.org
Commissioner Tony Kulick: tkulick@mt-pleasant.org
Commissioner Kristin LaLonde: klalonde@mt-pleasant.org
Commissioner Kathy Ling: kling@mt-pleasant.org
More information, including the draft ordinance, a map of the buffer zones and frequently asked questions, can be found at www.mt-pleasant.org.