Belleville City Council votes to opt out of new state marijuana law

During a special city council meeting Nov. 13, Belleville city attorney Steve Hitchcock gave a lengthy presentation on the new state law that allows provisioning centers, growing licenses, secure transportation, and compliance facilities for medical marijuana.
Then the Belleville City Council voted unanimously to officially opt out of that law. It also directed City Manager Diana Kollmeyer to bring back the paperwork necessary to change the zoning ordinance that provides for medical marijuana establishments in Industrial zoning.
Belleville wants to be completely out of the medical marijuana business.
Hitchcock said Dec. 15 was the date set to start issuing permits under the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act, but first the state is doing background checks, which will take a while. He said those who pass the checks then will apply for the licenses, which probably won’t be granted until spring.
He said unless the municipality passes ordinances for location of marijuana facilities, they wouldn’t have them.
Hitchcock said some communities are opting out of this by doing nothing, but that leaves the municipal staff without something to tell the callers and they’ll keep calling every week until you have something definite to say.
The MMFLA provides for three levels of growers licenses, other forms of medical marijuana such as oils and edibles, provisionary centers (retail centers to sell marijuana to those with medical marijuana cards or caregivers), secure transportation licenses (to transport from the grower to processing to the provisioning centers) and compliance facilities to test the marijuana for THC and purity.
Hitchcock said all licenses have to be in Industrial zoned areas.
He said people are saying they will lose out if they don’t opt in by Dec. 15 and that isn’t true. But, if you wait two years, the communities could be saturated and it may be too late.
Hitchcock said according to 2016 figures there are 208,000 licensed care givers and patients in the state and 15,000 in Wayne County. He said there is a 3% tax that will be placed on gross sales of provisioning centers and of that 25% goes to the community hosting.
“I’m not sure how that’s going to be calculated,” Hitchcock said. “The state hasn’t said.”
He said nobody is questioning that small communities will not get rich on this.
Hitchcock said in Colorado it was estimated that each patient has $347 to spend a year and that brought in $700 million to the state.
“I worked it out and I never got any huge numbers for Belleville. Maybe you’d get $20,000 per facility. It’s speculative what each community will get,” he said.
He said a community can charge fees, such as $500 per facility for the aggravation of having it in town, plus an application fee up front to deal with site plans and other details. Then simple ordinances could be passed on security, smell, hours of operation, and inspection by police department.
Then, he said, a community has to determine how to choose who gets licenses. Some do a Request for Proposals, use a first-come-first-served procedure, or put the applicants’ names in a pot and draw five out, or however many facilities are approved for that area.
Councilman Tom Fielder said the city has had the zoning ordinance in place since about two years ago when someone wanted to put a dispensary in commercial zoning. The only place allowed is in Industrial zoning, across the railroad tracks, he said. At most there was one place available and those interested couldn’t afford to go to that one place, he said.
Councilman Fielder said he estimates there are 50 to 100 people in Belleville with medical marijuana cards, which could bring in $3,450 with a single provisioning center, or up to $10,000 a year, if that.
“There will be a battle next year when it’s on the ballot,” he said, referring to recreational marijuana.
He said the Michigan State Police said there is enough marijuana grown in Michigan to allow each medical marijuana card holder to have 500 doses a day.
“We’re talking about money we’re going to make,” Fielder said. “That shouldn’t be the consideration… I’m in favor of opting out.”
Hitchcock said there could be policing issues.
Fielder said if the city doesn’t have medical marijuana in its one-and-a-half square-mile area, people won’t be deprived. They can go to nearby communities to get it.
Hitchcock said recreational marijuana will be on the ballot next year and people are getting in place to be ready because there is so much more money to make when it’s recreational.
Hitchcock said, if the citizens approve recreational marijuana, it would be up to the legislature to decide if it needed additional rules and regulations. Most states adopt the maximum amount you can buy over a period of time.
The state could make Belleville go back to the drawing board, he said.
Mike Renaud said from the audience: “I strongly urge the council … to bow out of this particular business… This is going to expand. We’re a small town. Ypsilanti has it and Sumpter Township will probably be adopting it. This would just be one more shop we don’t have in Belleville. It’s a slippery slope coming down the pipe.”
Fielder said the council will have to repeal the present zoning ordinance and vote to opt out.
He then made that motion, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jack Loria, and the council unanimously passed the motion.
Hitchcock said if recreational marijuana is voted in, the legislature may say it’s like any other business and it can locate wherever it wants to. Or, it could come up with some other rules.
“This is in place in Belleville until that happens,” said Councilman Tom Smith of the opt-out decision.
In other business at the 30-minute meeting, the council:
• Approved the Jingle Bell 1K Run and 5K Run/Walk at 9:45 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, starting and ending at Horizon Park. This is sponsored by the Van Buren Public Schools Education Foundation; and
• Went into closed-door session with Hitchcock to consider a communication from him under attorney-client privilege.