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Alpena Township to hold public hearing on marijuana

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 legal sale of medical and adult-use marijuana in Alpena Township could move one step closer to reality Monday.

The township’s planning commission is hosting a public hearing for proposed amendments to its zoning ordinance. If approved, the amendments may clear the way for marijuana businesses to open.

The planning commission meeting is slated to begin at 7 p.m. at the township office building.

Six different marijuana businesses are considered in the proposed changes to the ordinance, including growers, processors, provisioning centers, secure transporters, and marijuana safety compliance facilities.

The planning commission has worked for months with the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments to update the zoning and set rules and guidance for where marijuana businesses can open.

The full board of trustees needs to approve the amendment ordinance for it to go into effect.

Township Supervisor Nathan Skibbe said allowing the marijuana industry to operate in the township comes with benefits. He said besides added revenue to the township and county, it will produce jobs, more building permits being purchased, and more work for local contractors. Skibbe said having a detailed ordinance helps the township govern marijuana businesses to be sure they comply with state and local laws, and protect residents.

The changes to the zoning ordinance are similar to those in Alpena, which has already approved changes to its zoning to accommodate marijuana businesses.

Skibbe said having an ordinance that resembles the city’s helps to avoid confusion and keeps things uniform, which makes it easier for developers.

“We wanted to have consistency with our neighboring municipalities, as any good zoning plan should,” he said.

The proposed ordinance allows for developers who want to open a marijuana business to do so after receiving a license from the state and township. A special use permit from the township is also needed.

Most marijuana businesses will not be allowed to open in residential areas, with the exception of marijuana microbusinesses – a licensed person allowed to cultivate 150 or fewer marijuana plants, as well as process and package them. The microbusiness can then sell or otherwise transfer the drug to individuals who are 21 years old or older, or to a marijuana safety compliance facility. They cannot sell to other marijuana establishments.

The amended ordinance, if passed, will restrict operating hours for provisioning centers, retailers, and microbusinesses from 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. and will forbid sales within 500 feet of any building used for education, child care, or addiction treatment purposes or a park.

The planning commission may grant a reduction waiver in the separation distances in certain instances, if signed statements from each impacted property owner within the 500-foot limit is in agreement with the waiver.

Marijuana provisioning centers also cannot utilize drive thru to complete a transaction.

The township opted out of Proposal 1, which made it illegal for marijuana businesses to operate in the township. Proposal 1 was passed by voters in Michigan in 2018 and legalized recreational use of marijuana but allowed municipalities to set their own rules pertaining to whether or not businesses can operate in them.

Marijuana remains considered illegal as a Schedule 1 drug by the federal government.

The legalization of recreational marijuana wasn’t as popular in the township as it was in many areas of the state, as the final vote tally in the township was 2,342 against legalization and 2,015 for it.

Skibbe said the reason the township opted out of Proposal 1 after it became law was because there wasn’t much guidance from the state on marijuana businesses. He said now, the state has strict guidelines established and thorough in the licensing process, which gives small governments more confidence in allowing marijuana businesses to open.

More people, Skibbe said, have also had a change of heart about allowing marijuana related businesses to open in the area.

“The planning commission hasn’t received one piece of correspondence in opposition to this yet,” he said.

Skibbe said the planning commission could vote to recommend the changes to the ordinance after the public hearing, or make changes to it. Once the commission signs off on the ordinance, it needs to be reviewed by the Alpena County Planning Commission, before returning to the township for another public hearing in front of the full board of trustees.

Skibbe said after the ordinance is introduced to the full board, a vote on the amendments can come at a meeting thereafter.

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