TRAVERSE CITY — Nonmedical marijuana shops could be licensed for business in Traverse City as early as August.
City clerk Benjamin Marentette said that’s the possible timeline if city commissioners pass a set of regulations for the stores on May 2.
Commissioners will meet again that day and potentially vote on the city’s second attempt at rules for the burgeoning sector of legal cannabis sales. Their first attempts have been the subject of much debate and some litigation, which spurred even more debate over how to rewrite the rules.
With two weeks to go until a possible vote, that debate continues. Commissioners during Monday’s discussion to introduce the rules in May couldn’t agree on how many retail spots for nonmedical cannabis — also known as adult use or recreational — to allow in the city.
Lewis
Mayor Richard Lewis said city leaders will discuss the issue again at an April 25 study session.
“I don’t know if we’ll come to a conclusion as to the number, but I know that we will vote on … the number on May 2,” he said.
Recommendations from an ad hoc committee that drafted the rewritten rules call for eight to 10, while one former member, Brian McGillivary, suggested 16. Lewis said he’d rather limit them to four — the cap under the city’s previously adopted rules.
Medical cannabis retailers have repeatedly asked commissioners for a shot at nonmedical sales, with several advocating for limits that at least match the city’s cap on medical stores, or none at all.
Mayor Pro Tem Amy Shamroe said recommendations for a smaller number of nonmedical cannabis sellers stem from a desire to prevent the sort of land rush that preceded the city’s license lottery for medical marijuana stores.
McGillivary told commissioners he still believes that a higher number is a better one. The industry has matured since the city issued its licenses for medical cannabis stores — he asked the city to use cannabis over marijuana, citing arguments that the latter term has a history rooted in xenophobia. Plus, as a real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway, he’s already seeing buyers look for potential sites for nonmedical cannabis retail.
Commissioner Mark Wilson initially suggested allowing as many as there are places that sell alcohol within the city, later saying he would allow at least enough to give current medical cannabis retailers a chance to apply.
Walter
Allowing 22 to 24 would match the total allowed under zoning rules that would create 10 districts around the city, Commissioner Ashlea Walter said. Limiting it to three or four could be even messier than letting market forces, business strategies and location decide.
“And I feel like us sitting here with a crystal ball deciding that magic number we think is a good fit and will be a good balance in the community, it’s like we’re never going to find that number,” she said. “I think the community needs to determine that on their own.”
Commissioner Mi Stanley said she preferred allowing 22 to 24, and argued that allowing too few could create surges of customers at those stores as it did in other locales.
The final number under those zoning rules likely will be limited by a Montessori school at Park and State streets, and the required 1,000 feet of separation between schools and marijuana retailers, city Planner Shawn Winter said.
Commissioner Tim Werner said he still preferred eight to 10, at least as a starting point. City leaders can always increase the number over the next few years or so.
Allowing up to 12 sounded good to Commissioner Mitchell Treadwell, he said, adding he’s not set on it.
A higher number of nonmedical cannabis retailers would require more resources for inspections to ensure compliance, city Manager Marty Colburn said.
Those resources could come from a 10 percent excise tax charged on nonmedical marijuana, a share of which goes to each local government that has licensed retailers, Shamroe said.
It’s money the city has already left on the table, said Mike DiLaura, House of Dank’s chief corporate officer.
The company is one of a handful of medical marijuana stores that challenged the city’s previous limit of four nonmedical retailers, and the scoring rubric the city would have used to award them, as previously reported. Thirteenth Circuit Court Judge Thomas Power partly struck down the rubric but agreed the limit for nonmedical shops could be lower than that for medical stores without breaking state law.
DiLaura pointed to past input largely favoring a higher number of licenses for nonmedical retail, and a licensing process that creates a “linear path” for medical cannabis sellers to enter the nonmedical sector. He agreed he didn’t want to see a land rush, and said setting the limit too low could make a license to sell more valuable than an operating business.
City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht said the rewritten scoring rubric, also set for consideration on May 2, addresses the issues raised in the ruling. It also includes other changes, like using a sliding scale for each criteria instead of awarding points on an all-or-nothing basis. That should make it easier to compare applicants.