Saginaw Attorney: City Ordinance Already Addresses Medical Marijuana I

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SAGINAW — City Hall’s top attorney says officials won’t need to adjust the community’s ordinance to fit state medical marijuana laws after all.

 

The issue first was raised in December, to the ire of about 30 people from across the state who packed a December City Council meeting to protest a proposed six-month freeze on medical marijuana use, growth and distribution in the city.

 

Officials at the time said they wanted to impose a moratorium to give attorneys time to rewrite Saginaw’s zoning laws to fit new state medical marijuana laws. Less than a month later, officials backed off the moratorium plans and opted instead to examine the community laws without the it.

 

City Attorney Thomas H. Fancher now said the city has completed its study.

 

“We came to the conclusion that we didn’t really have to change the zoning ordinances,†he said. “It seems to be working out.â€

 

Fancher said the city determined medical marijuana growth, use and distribution can be applied to existing ordinance language that governs residential zoning and business ventures.

 

He said the city can break medical marijuana activity into three categories:

 

• Patients and caregivers — Fancher said those who grow, use or distribute medical marijuana from their homes are protected by “home occupation†zoning that, for instance, allows residents to sell eBay items from their homes.

 

“That can be anywhere,†he said. “Ideally, the neighbors wouldn’t even know its existence.â€

 

• Medical marijuana “enterprises,†sometimes referred to as compassion clubs or dispensaries — “Depending on how you envision the activities there, these would fall under B1 (zoning), for local businesses,†Fancher said. “These are people coming together in a building, discussing things, interviewing each other for what patients want, etc. What we don’t see happening is for marijuana to be distributed or exchanged in (these buildings).â€

 

Fancher said, while one entrepreneur inquired about starting a marijuana compassion club in recent years, he wasn’t aware of other “enterprises†in the city.

 

• Specialized doctors who can recommend medical marijuana to patients — “That would also be under B1,†Fancher said. “That third category is more commercial and easier to deal with.â€

 

Fancher said the city’s approach to categorizing medical marijuana under existing law is similar to Grand Rapids’ approach, “though they took it one step forward and said home occupation must be licensed,†he said. “That’s something we might look at in case there are problems (in other municipalities).â€

 

Fancher said he worries, though, that requiring a medical marijuana license for homes could pose privacy concerns unless the city was able to exempt the registry from Freedom of Information Act requests.

 

“Patients and caregivers don’t want people knowing they have marijuana in their homes,†the attorney said.

 

Fancher, who plans to present his findings at the 6:30 p.m. Monday City Council meeting at City Hall, 1315 S. Washington, said he doesn’t foresee the city addressing the issue again anytime soon.

 

“This should settle it down now,†he said.

 

Fancher said other Michigan communities “are now where we were a year ago.â€

 

He said municipalities such as Muskegon, Ypsilanti, Royal Oak and Battle Creek have enacted or are in the midst of enacting the moratorium Saginaw nearly enforced

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Author: Justin L. Engel

Date: 11 October 2010

Source: The Saginaw News

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2010/10/saginaw_attorney_city_ordinanc.html