Pubdate: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 Source: Morning Sun (Mt. Pleasant, MI) Copyright: 2011 Morning Sun Contact: http://www.themorningsun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3938 Author: Mark Ranzenberger Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan) MT. PLEASANT ASKED TO LOOK AT LAWS ON MARIJUANA BUSINESSES One of the owners of a medical marijuana dispensary in Mt. Pleasant is urging the City Commission to adopt zoning and licensing laws for marijuana-related businesses in the city. But the mayor and city manager said the city is not yet ready to move. Brandon McQueen, one of the principals in the Compassionate Apothecary, suggested that Mt. Pleasant adopt laws modeled on laws proposed for the city of Ann Arbor. That community's city council is set to give final approval to new ordinances this week. "It is a very, very good ordinance," McQueen said. "There are only two or three things that need to be changed." According to a report in AnnArbor.com, that community of nearly 114,000 people is host to 15 to 18 medical marijuana-related businesses. Mt. Pleasant, with a population is less than a quarter of Ann Arbor's, is home to at least three such businesses. The proposal from a city with some of the most lenient marijuana ordinances in the United States calls for dispensaries to be limited to commercial or office zones, while growing operations could operate in commercial and industrial areas. State-licensed caregivers who grow in their own homes wouldn't be affected. Dispensaries would be licensed by a licensing board, and the law requires record-keeping and labeling of the product. But City Manager Kathie Grinzinger said Mt. Pleasant isn't ready to begin the formal process of developing and adopting a medical marijuana business ordinance. "We are continuing to collect information," Grinzinger said. Mayor Bruce Kilmer said the city of Mt. Pleasant is likely to wait for the results of an appeal in a case involving the Compassionate Apothecary before making any move. Isabella County Trial Court Judge Paul Chamberlain ruled that the dispensary did not constitute a nuisance under the city's zoning law; Isabella County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Burdick is appealing that decision. "Since that case came right from our community," Kilmer said, "we thought we'd wait for that one." Meanwhile, Union Township's planning commission is set to get its first look at the first draft of a proposed medical marijuana business ordinance Wednesday night. The proposal calls for both licensing and zoning restrictions on medical marijuana-related businesses. The proposed zoning law would limit dispensaries to business and industrial districts, but allow a business designated at a "marihuana club" to operate in some residential zones with a special use permit. Licenses would be issued by the zoning administrator, and the proposed Union Township law would require at least 1,000 feet to separate dispensaries, grow facilities or "marihuana clubs." It also would require grow facilities be at least 1,000 feet and dispensaries at least 500 feet from residentially zoned districts, churches, schools, day care centers or parks. The state law allows state-licensed caregivers to cultivate up to 12 marijuana plants; the proposal in Union Township sets a maximum of 72 plants in one home, grown indoors. The idea is not to interfere if there are multiple caregivers in one family. The township planning commission meets Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Union Township Hall, Lincoln and Pickard roads. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake