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Alpena Municipal Council working to update medical marijuana ordinance

News File Photo Marijuana is weighed on a scale in this News file photo. Alpena Township will hold a public hearing Monday for proposed amendments to its zoning ordinance. If approved, the amendments may clear the way for marijuana businesses to open in the township.

ALPENA — The Alpena Municipal Council began the process of updating its medical marijuana ordinance during a special meeting Tuesday.

Council previously lifted its two business cap on medical marijuana facilities, and is working toward revamping the regulations to make them clear for future applicants.

Portions of the scoring rubric, which was used to grade past applicants, are going to simply be changed to add the word “shall” before the instructions on the application.

As an example, the application may say something similar to “The applicant shall submit a security plan.

It will also clarify capital investment requirements and possibly job and wages. An update to the appeals and payment process is also being considered.

Mayor Matt Waligora said keeping some portions of the prior rules is needed so those businesses selected previously don’t feel they didn’t have the same opportunities as any new ones down the road.

“I think the closer we stay to the standards we set, the better,” Waligora said. “That would be the most fair to the ones we already selected.”

Denise Cline, Northeast Michigan Council of Governments deputy director and chief planner, is working with the council to modify the regulations, and will also work on a blight ordinance. The input from the council will be molded into the new ordinances by city attorney Bill Pfeifer, Cline, and city staff.

Pfeifer said the modifications will likely not be done in time for the first meeting in May, but pointed to the first meeting in June as a target for a finalized draft of the new rules.

Last week, Waligora hinted it was possible a discussion on the future and fate of recreational marijuana in Alpena could materialize. The topic was never brought to the table however, but Waligora said it will be discussed at some point.

Last year, the council selected the applications from Green Buddha and Lume Cannabis Company to be the first medical marijuana retailers in the city.

The Green Buddha is going to completely renovate the former Thunder Bay Restaurant near the bridge on Chisholm Street on the Thunder Bay River.

Lume is going to build a facility from the ground up on the vacant property across from the Cracker Barrel party store.

Both companies have submitted design plans to the city, but construction hasn’t begun on either store. When they open they will join Consume Cannabis Co. in Harrisville, Meds Cafe in Rogers Township, and Onaway’s Sticky Bush Farms as the only facilities to sell marijuana in Northeast Michigan.

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