Mayor Conley explains marijuana sales will bring new shops to town

At the regular meeting of the Belleville Downtown Development Authority on Dec. 16, via Zoom, Mayor Kerreen Conley explained that the ordinance passed by voters will bring new shops to the city.
She explained that “lobbyists” came to town – and then changed their description to “petitioners.” They managed to put a ballot proposal to allow marijuana businesses on the Nov. 4 ballot and voters passed it two to one, she said.
“It’s a pretty big impact on the community,” Conley said, noting the city has to determine where facilities would be located and how they would be located.
“Zoning is the only thing we have control of,” she said, noting the planning commission will hold a public hearing via Zoom at 5 p.m., Monday, Dec. 28, to recommend an overlay zoning district for the marijuana industry.
She said a medical marijuana district was originally located in the city’s Industrial-2 zoning and was not used. Conley said for the marijuana industry the I-2 zoning is expanded.
“There will be additional businesses in town next year,” Conley said.
“If we don’t do what we’re supposed to under the new ordinance, rather than charge a $5,000 fee [to marijuana businesses each year], we could only charge $100 a year otherwise,” she said.
The overlay district that the planning commission recommends after its public hearing Dec. 28 will then move to the city council for action that same evening.
“There’s plenty of movement going on around the community,” Conley said of the marijuana industry. “It’s a charter amendment that we can’t change easily.”
Mayor Conley said the ordinance allows up to 23 businesses and, “Twenty-three facilities is a lot.”
In other business at the DDA’s 36-minute meeting, the board:
• Welcomed invited guests from the DDA taxing jurisdiction and presented an illustrated DDA Report on activities for 2020. The report was prepared by DDA Coordinator Carol Thompson and presented by DDA officers: Chairperson Alicia McGovern, vice-chairperson Jason Mida, secretary Denise Baker, and treasurer Sabrina Richardson-Williams;
• Approved the treasurer’s report and accounts payable of $89,567.87, which included a settlement totalling $58,747.12 paid to the city for street lights for 2018-19 and 2019-20. In 2011 the LED street lights were installed and were supposed to cost less to operate. The city manager is finding out more details for a better explanation of what happened; and
• Heard Thompson report the long-awaited, custom-made tree grates for the Fourth Street Placemaking Project were due to arrive on Dec. 17. She said after the holidays, Blue Ribbon will lay the concrete and install the grates. In the spring they will plant trees and place the other amenities. “I think they’ll be really beautiful,” Thompson said of the tree grates. The seven grates ordered cost $7,000 each for a total of $49,000 for grates. The total project is priced at $425,000.