HARRISVILLE — The Harrisville Planning Commission on Wednesday recommended two ordinances, one allowing medical marijuana facilities in the city limits and one allowing recreational marijuana establishments, be sent to the City Council for approval.

Commissioners also recommended changes to the zoning ordinance be sent to the council.

“There is a council meeting Monday night,” commission Chairman Tony Haight said. “They can discuss these and approve them or disapprove them as they see fit.”

The Harrisville City Council meets at 7 p.m. June 10 at the municipal office, 200 5th St.

The proposed ordinance would allow medical marijuana facilities to operate in the city’s industrial zones and recreational marijuana establishments to operate in its commercial and mixed-use zones, according to the draft zoning amendment.

Harrisville’s industrial zone is located on the south end of town, just north of Harrisville State Park. Its commercial and mixed-use zones are located along the U.S.-23 corridor that runs through the city.

The City Council decided in March to allow both medical and recreational marijuana to be sold within city limits and directed the Planning Commission to develop an amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance.

Harrisville became the first municipality in Northeast Michigan to allow recreational marijuana to be sold in its boundaries after voters legalized the drug in November.

The start of Wednesday’s meeting, which was to convene a public hearing, was delayed for a few minutes while commissioners waited until enough were in attendance to form a quorum.

A little over a dozen residents from the city and surrounding townships attended the meeting, with many asking questions rather than making comments on the ordinance. Consultant Tom Reif, of Michigan Municipal Cannabis Consultants, was able to answer many of those questions.

Resident Manny Pompa wanted to know if a business could sell both recreational and medical marijuana or if they had to operate separate businesses. He also wanted to know what kind of identification was needed to purchase either medical or recreational marijuana from those facilities.

Reif explained that under the ordinance, a person wanting to sell recreational marijuana would first need to be approved for a provisioning center for medical marijuana.

“Presumably, anybody wanting those facilities and establishments is going to want to do both and it’s going to require a permit for each from the city,” he said.

Haight said a person will not be able to obtain medical marijuana unless they have a state-issued medical marijuana card. A person wanting to buy recreational marijuana would have to be 21 and have identification, he said.

Reif added that the difference is really going to be in the collection of the excise tax.

“If you have a medical card, you are exempt from excise tax. You’ll pay sales tax only,” he said. “If you’re using (marijuana) for adult consumption, 21 or older, you don’t have the medical card, you’ll pay 6% sales tax and a 10% excise tax.”

City resident Richard Dunn expressed concerns over the 250-foot setbacks from schools and child care facilities and wanted to know if any other entities, such as churches or medical clinics, were considered for the 250-foot clearance.

Reif said other entities and measurements for the setbacks were considered, but that the challenge was the amount of space in the city. He explained townships are 6 miles by 6 miles, but that Harrisville is only a half-mile by a half-mile.

“So, if you have a 1,000- foot buffer zone from everything, guess what,” he asked. “You’ve just regulated these out of existence.”

Harrisville Township resident Ryan Mendyka expressed his support for the city’s decision.

“It’s a really good thing, a good business opportunity,” he said. “I hope it all works out for everybody.”

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.