City of New Buffalo Planning Commission makes marijuana zoning recommendations to city council

Local Government Meetings

New Buffalo Times

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City of New Buffalo Planning Commission makes marijuana zoning recommendations to city council

Members of the New Buffalo City Planning Commission recommended to the city council that they approve the retail sale of marijuana in the city under certain conditions at a special meeting Tuesday, July 26.

In a 4-1 vote (planner Mark Joseph voted “nay”), the planners recommended the retail sale of marijuana along with the following conditions: “That the zoning ordinance, Section 11-2 be amended to insert as number 43 under General and Specialty Retail and Personal Services “The Retail Sale of Marijuana” as a Special Land Use. With the further provisions that it is not located within 1,000 feet of a school or church, does not directly adjoin an R-1, R-2 or R-3 residential district and not be within 1,000 feet of the Central Business District.”

Planning Commission Chair Paul Billingslea said that he’s in favor of having control over the matter through zoning.

“We do that through zoning - we make it a special use and then we define where it can be located within the city, what are the locations,” he said.

Joseph said that while everyone says it’s not a “gateway drug” he’s seen a lot of people “who went farther than marijuana,” adding that he’s not concerned with the funds the sale of it may generate for the city.

Planner Debra Schmidt said that “personally I do not use it, don’t want it anywhere near me, but I also don’t want to tell everybody else what they can do.” She said it was “scary” to drive around at night on weekends with the amount of drinking happening in town and all the weekend traffic, adding that marijuana usage might exacerbate these issues. In talking with people, Schmidt said that while everyone’s in favor of the sale of medical marijuana, they’re against recreational.

In February, Billingslea said that the results of a survey that was sent out to residents revealed that 60% are in favor of having some type of marijuana business in the city (some were in favor of medical but not recreational) and 40% were opposed.

“My opinion tonight is that we should say where we want it in the zoning so that we know where we would put it if it’s allowed and then we decide then if we’re going to recommend it to be available,” Schmidt said.

Planner Roxanne Rau cited concerns for traffic, which is already an issue in the city, when looking at where the dispensaries should be located. She said that zoning is her biggest concern and that whether dispensaries end up here or “in the township right on the line, it’s here – it’s already approved within the state, it’s legal.”

“I think there’s more questions that need to be answered, especially about zoning,” Rau said, adding that that’s the “most critical part.”

Planner Bill McCollum said that, when seeing a dispensary in another town, he said it was the “busiest place I’ve ever been in my life, it looked like McDonald’s” and the traffic that a dispensary will generate is “going to be huge.”

He added that the city should allow for them on the outskirts of town if it is allowed.

Billingslea said that not allowing the dispensaries to be within 1,000 feet of schools or churches or central business district “keeps it out of our highest traffic areas, it keeps it on the edges of town.”

He added that they should avoid controlling the matter through the number of licenses because most of the lawsuits that are in place “revolve around the number of permits issued” in municipalities that have allowed dispensaries.

During public comments, Scott Callahan said he’s concerned about the “money that’s behind all this,” adding that he doesn’t believe that “we should have a conglomerate come in here and decide how we should do it and profit from it.”

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

“I think if you’re going to be local, be local,” he said.

Mary Robertson said she’s “100% against establishments in New Buffalo,” and said the city “should not become known as the first town over the state line where you can buy marijuana.”

She added that it’s “home to many children who should not be influenced and think that it’s okay to smoke pot because it can be legally purchased in New Buffalo where they live.”

“There are many people who are very interested in marijuana businesses in New Buffalo because they are interested in only one thing: their own financial gain…. They don’t live here, and they don’t really care what New Buffalo looks like or what it’s known for,” she said.

Roger Barbour said traffic can be controlled by zoning and dispensaries could only be allowed in general commercial district at the edge of the city. He added that there could be 20 to 25 “well-paying, year-round jobs in the city per dispensary licensed.” This year, he said each municipality share of the 10% excise tax collected on recreational marijuana will be over $56,000 per dispensary, which is double previous years.

Scott Dianda, a former state representative from the Upper Peninsula who started working with recreational cannabis company Tranquility Fields and advises municipalities on the retail sale of recreational marijuana, said that zoning is the best way to maintain control and that he’s seen communities across the state that have “unlimited licenses and it’s a free for all.”

“In Bay City, it turns into being 50 to 60 licenses out there; now, they’re having a lot of people selling those businesses because they can’t make it,” he said.