Three Oaks Village Council discusses marihuana business license review at special workshop

Local Government Meetings

New Buffalo Times

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CITY OF NEW BUFFALO JOHN HUMPHREY, MAYOR CITY COUNCIL LOU O’DONNELL, IV. MARK ROBERTSON, JOHN HUMPHREY, ROGER LIJESKI, BRIAN FLANIGAN City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 6:30PM CITY OF NEW BUFFALO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS to be determined NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP BOARD PETE RAHM, MICHELLE HEIT, JUDY H. ZABICKI, PATTY IAZZETTO, JACK ROGERS Board meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 7PM NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM

NEW BUFFALO AREA SCHOOLS BOARD CHUCK HEIT, PRESIDENT HEATHER BLACK, VICE PRESIDENT JOHN HASKINS, TREASURER LISA WERNER, SECRETARY JOYCE LANTZ, TRUSTEE FRANK MARGRO, TRUSTEE PATRICIA NEWSTON, TRUSTEE CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP BOARD DAVID BUNTE, PAULA DUDIAK, LIZ RETTIG, RICHARD SULLIVAN, BILL MARSKE Chikaming Board meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:30PM CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 6:30PM THREE OAKS THREE OAKS TOWNSHIP BOARD Meets on the 2nd Monday of each month at 7PM VILLAGE OF THREE OAKS BOARD Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7PM GRAND BEACH VILLAGE OF GRAND BEACH COUNCIL Meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7PM MICHIANA VILLAGE OF MICHIANA COUNCIL Meets on the 2nd Friday of each month at 1PM

Three Oaks Village Council discusses marihuana business license review at special workshop

Members of the Three Oaks Village Council are “off to the races” in terms of their marihuana business municipal license review process, Becky Harvey of McKenna & Associate said during the council’s marihuana assessment workshop held at Village Hall Thursday, July 29.

The initial bidding period ended that day, during which applications have been received in the village clerk’s office. The village began accepting marihuana license applications July 19.

The village has taken the position of limiting the number of licenses, which, per the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act (MRTMA), requires it to have a competitive selection process “by which to pick when you have more applicants than you do licenses available.”

“The purpose of you going through the process is to determine which applicant you think is best suited to operate in compliance with the Act and with your ordinance,” Harvey said.

Village Ordinance #221, “An Ordinance to Amend Ordinance #219-The Village of Three Oaks Regulation of Medical and Adult Use Marihuana Ordinance,” allows licenses for two marijuana retailers, one microbusiness, two processors, one safety compliance facility and one secure transporter.

The final count as of that night was 10 retailer applications that received zoning approval and will be subject to the competitive selection process due to the lack of availability of 10 licenses.

During the 14-day review period, an application is reviewed for its completeness – if it met zoning approval and spacing requirements and the fee has been paid and the applicant has “done the basics that are your requirements for this,” Harvey said.

Complete applications are issued Conditional Authorization by first class mail, while incomplete ones are issued Denial of Conditional Authorization by first-class mail (which includes a Checklist of Deficiencies). Applicants have 14 days from the mailing date of the denial to correct deficiencies and resubmit it.

Harvey said a tentative timeline calls for the village to be engaged in a conditional authorization time frame for the month of August.

“The village office is not going to be in the position to gather together all conditionally authorized applications and get them to you (the councilmembers) until September,” she said.

Once the conditionally authorized applications are in councilmembers’ hands, the selection process can begin.

Per the village ordinance, the village council must conduct their application reviews in public meetings. Councilmembers are given the option of if the applicant or stakeholder should be present at the meeting.

Each councilmember should review each application per the Assessment Factors (which Harvey said are in the ordinance and are specific to Three Oaks) prior to the public meeting.

Harvey said of the process that councilmembers shouldn’t use numerical rankings or scores but instead should identify if and how each assessment factor has been met based on the application.

If the council approves, the applicant will be issued a Conditional License, contingent upon the State of Michigan issuing a license for operation under state law.

The applicant has one year from the date the Conditional License is issued to provide to the Village “proof that the state operating license has been obtained and to complete all other required permits/approvals required by the Village.” The village shall issue the Municipal License 30 days after obtaining this proof.

Municipal licenses are valid for one year from the date of issuance.

Upon recommendation from attorney Jessica Fette, who was present that night, councilmembers didn’t make any formal decisions that night due to it being a workshop. It was agreed that they would begin discussing the number and dates of council meetings regarding the applications and if applicants should be present at their meetings, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11.

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

My dad came out of the Roosevelt era and the Depression. One person and one party made a difference in his life. That’s what everybody forgot when they called my father and other people political bosses. — Richard M. Daley