Community Regulations Question

[scottcanderson]

I am the chairman of the planning commission for a community in southeast Michigan, and our planner has suggested we ought to have some kind of medical marijuana ordinance. I think what he means, is that we should specify in our zoning ordinance where someone could establish a formal facility of some kind (a store front, or a place where people could meet to use marijuana in the company of other patients, for example).

 

Has anyone seen any community that has passed a REASONABLE ordinance, and can get me a copy? By "reasonable", what I mean is that I am opposed to community efforts to circumvent the state law by trying to outlaw that which is legal. But I agree that a medical marijuana business, like any kind of business, should be subject to reasonable regulation.

 

Anyhow, if you have anything we might look at, please share!

 

Thanks,

Scott Anderson

[LansingAreaCaregiver]

Welcome Mr. Anderson. I know the city of East Lansing is currently looking at three different ordinances, and seem to be of the same mindset as you.

 

Also, I've heard Charleviox and Traverse City have both passed reasonable zoning regulations.

 

Good luck, and thank you for being proactive in seeking the medical marijuana community's input.

[Guest thequietone]

Welcome Scott to the MMMA forums. I would like to say thank you for your approach to this matter. I do believe you are the first official from any community here in Michigan to come here and ask for input.

 

I know there are several members who should be able to help you who are better educated in the various ordinances being drafted around the state.

[boroboro]

Does anybody have a link or the text of the Traverse City ordinance? I had been meaning to read it anyway today after a feisty meeting at the TC compassionate connection last night, where it became apparent that there are some disagreements over how the ordinance treats caregivers, and why it was written that way.

 

I thought it would be easy to find, but the only link I found on the city website was about a dispensary moratorium in April, http://www.ci.traver...y.mi.us/864.pdf

 

Edit: found something close to the right version. It's an image-based .pdf, though, and not text. Anyway, the closest I found to the Traverse City ordinance details begins on page 85 of the August 2 meeting packet found here: http://www.ci.traver...ket20100802.pdf (21MB .pdf file!)

[Grow Thread]

WELCOME!!

[Marijuana Ranch]

420Peace scottcanderson,

 

Welcome into the 3ma.

Welcome your open mind...

[_abbenormal]

hello mr anderson

 

thank you for posting here... i hope you can talk with the local patients and caregivers and have good talks about how to help them...i feel it would make it a safer place that are free from feeling unsafe to be at... this is why its important for patients to talk with you... allowing compassion clubs members to feel safe and sick patients a place to learn more to help them is a good cause... having a place to talk and be able to open up about there medical issues helps more than most know... just getting out and having a place to go to is a god send for some patients... a place to feel safe... its about people hurting and not having to be scared about this that is helping them... it also gives a place for caregivers to help in how to use there meds as this is and has more types of treatment to learn about... learning teaching what other options it has that have worked for others... we do not just smoking it... theres other ways to use this herb... plants have been over a long time now used to heal different ailments... we make it a lot of different ways to treat things... we have rubs that work very well... this is about us patients and having a safe place with some sort of comfort to go to so my mom or someone else mom doesnt have to get it from the black market of the town... so i know some here can help in answering your questions lets make this a model for others to follow... thanks for asking about this...

 

abbe

[Rob420]

Welcome Mr. Anderson! Thank you for your open-mindedness and thank you for not violating the will of the people

[+Annnie]

Hello mr anderson.. I applaud your mature approach in researching with actual patients the ramifications of your decisions. Thanks for doing that.. I agree with the others about compassion clubs being the most positive and helpful form of medical marihuana buisness. And the safest too.. I would like to ask that you remember that caregivers are so important in this model we have created here in michigan and to please not vilify them.Also, sometimes caregivers need to group together to make it all possible in todays economy. The process of building a locked enclosed grow room is very very expensive so sometimes people need to do it in the same space.. I am refering to husbands and wives.. brothers who live together or perhaps roommates all living together.. sometimes many people in a family are all patients and would need to grow in the same home (mom.dad. uncle joe. grandpa) Please keep this in mind when doing your zoning (traverse city forgot to remember the poor in their community when they disallowed more than one person growing in the same place.)Thanks again.. Annie

[jmorrison71]

Thank you Mr. Anderson for posting on here and for attempting to work within the law rather than work against it. It's a refreshing thing to see and something that needs to be applauded!!!

[wingnut]

August 17, 2010

TC approves marijuana regulations

New ordinance could be changed if problems come up in the future

 

BY ART BUKOWSKI abukowski@record-eagle.com abukowski@record-eagle.com Tue Aug 17, 2010, 07:09 AM EDT

 

TRAVERSE CITY — New regulations that dictate when and where city residents can grow and distribute medical marijuana could be changed if problems arise.

 

City commissioners on Monday gave final approval to a new ordinance that regulates land-use issues tied to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. It takes effect Aug. 26.

 

The ordinance allows for cultivation of up to 72 marijuana plants in single-family homes, and that concerns those who believe such activity could degrade the city's residential neighborhoods. But commissioners weren't ready to rule out residential growth.

 

"This law is not set in concrete," Mayor Pro-Tem Ralph Soffredine said. "We can bring it back to the table, and we can tweak it and do what we want to do with it. But we need to give it a chance."

 

The Michigan Medical Marijuana act, approved in 2008, allows patients to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and 12 plants. It also allows designated caregivers to grow and distribute plants to up to five patients.

 

But the act doesn't specify where or when patients and caregivers can grow or exchange marijuana, so municipalities across the state were left to decide for themselves.

 

The new ordinance doesn't affect the amount of plants a patient can have under state law, or the number of plants a caregiver can grow or distribute.

 

It instead specifies where legal marijuana-related activity can occur within city limits.

 

City resident Julia Wagner told commissioners she's uncomfortable with marijuana growth in residential districts.

 

She voted in favor of medical marijuana, but assumed it would be closely regulated and available only at pharmacies.

 

"I had no idea that this could invade my neighborhood," she said.

 

Her view was shared by Adrienne Rossi, a Central Neighborhood resident who called marijuana growth "extremely unhealthy for our residential neighborhoods."

 

Pro-medical marijuana activists countered that residential growth allows patients easier and safer access to the drug.

 

Current residential growth hasn't led to significant problems, they said, and the city could expose itself to potential litigation if it tries to prevent residents from exercising a right afforded under state law.

 

The ordinance allows for cultivation in excess of 72 plants in industrial districts, provided the cultivation facility owner obtains a license from the city.

 

It also allows for medical marijuana "collectives" in most commercial districts of the city.

 

Any medical marijuana that fits within the confines of the Medical Marijuana Act can change hands in such collectives, but growing isn't allowed there.

Text Onl http://record-eagle.com/local/x1627564050/TC-approves-marijuana-regulations

[_abbenormal]

hello mr anderson

 

you may want to look at this as it might help you and what you maybe looking at....

 

http://www.clarecountyreview.com/?p=5360

 

 

abbe

[Greg Starks]

Traverse City Ordinances: I ripped the .pdfs...

TC Ords.doc

TC Ords fee tables.doc

[+Jennifer8]

I am the chairman of the planning commission for a community in southeast Michigan, and our planner has suggested we ought to have some kind of medical marijuana ordinance. I think what he means, is that we should specify in our zoning ordinance where someone could establish a formal facility of some kind (a store front, or a place where people could meet to use marijuana in the company of other patients, for example).

 

Has anyone seen any community that has passed a REASONABLE ordinance, and can get me a copy? By "reasonable", what I mean is that I am opposed to community efforts to circumvent the state law by trying to outlaw that which is legal. But I agree that a medical marijuana business, like any kind of business, should be subject to reasonable regulation.

 

Anyhow, if you have anything we might look at, please share!

 

Thanks,

Scott Anderson

 

Have you thought about looking into any of the ordinances in Colorado, as food for thought?

[lawyercaregiver]

Unfortunately in order to get ordinances you often have to go to the local city building or local district court and they are really, really a pain to research and find.

 

I suggest you contact your counterparts and/or the city attorney in some of the cities mentioned in this thread for further advice. They should be more than willing to fax over copies of the pertinent ordinances.

 

Good luck and thanks. Reasonable government is always a good thing! We need more officials like you.