August 6, 2021
By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com
Brighton City Council is ready to explore what marijuana ordinances will look like.
City Council was joined by staff and their new legal counsel Thursday night to discuss the legal framework for allowing marijuana establishments in the City. City Manager Nate Geinzer said that earlier in the year they got word that a ballot petition committee had filed with Livingston County. Although no petition language has been submitted at this point, he suggested that that shows there is something being looked at.
A similar initiative was successful last year in Pinckney. Brighton City Council members like Jim Muzzin felt it would be wise to get out in front of a potential situation like this in order to help the City keep control of the ordinance language. He said he would probably be in favor of a limited amount of provisioning centers, like three.
What types of establishments and the numbers of each allowed are decisions City Council could make if they opt-in to allow them. Mayor Pro-Tem Susan Gardner said that if they took a logical and practical approach, that might take the wind out of the sails of petitioners. A petitioner could always petition for more than what the City allows, but City Council was hopeful that if they did it right, voters would not support overrides. Gardner added that she sees special interest groups becoming more bold and assertive as if they are looking to take away the rights of those elected to make decisions.
Jim Bohn noted that with the City only being 2.9 miles in area and basically built out, that there already weren’t many spots for establishments. It was also unclear if areas with open real estate, like around Target, might have restrictions on them already that wouldn’t allow marijuana-type businesses.
The types and numbers of the establishments to be allowed will be part of the focus of an upcoming workshop. Most spoke in favor of a small number of dispensaries, and potentially a testing center. Jon Emaus felt that the City being located near I-96 and US-23 is put in right at the crossroads of the four largest marijuana players in the state, lending a fantastic opportunity for the industrial district.
As a side note, the City’s legal counsel noted that municipalities that opted into recreational marijuana establishments each received $28,000 in state shared revenue for each dispensary they had, for the first year.
During their regular meeting, City Council unanimously passed a motion to schedule a workshop with Council, staff, legal and planners to further nail down what they would like for the City Planning Commission to use as their focus for the ordinance. That workshop, while not yet scheduled, is being considered for a Saturday in September.