POT COMPASSION CENTER COULD OPEN IN WORTH

Amsdills Seek 2nd Facility After Facing 'Adversity' In Kimball

The couple who opened a marijuana compassion center in Kimball
Township plans to open another facility in Sanilac County's Worth Township.

Debra Amsdill said she and her husband, Jim, are planning to expand
their operation and are looking outside of Kimball Township.

"With the adversity we received from (Kimball) township, we thought
it would be in our best interest to expand in a different location,"
Debra Amsdill said.

That doesn't mean the Amsdills are closing their Kimball location.

"I will fight to stay here because I'm not going to leave the
patients I'm already seeing," she said. "A lot of people here don't
like to travel. And having a location that is convenient and
accessible to them is a good thing."

The Amsdills opened their Kimball Township center March 10 in the
Sawmill Commons strip mall, 4731 Lapeer Road, a short time before
township officials approved a six-month moratorium banning such centers.

The moratorium was designed to give the planning commission time to
develop zoning guidelines for such businesses, which the Amsdills
have said are places for medical marijuana users and their caregivers
to gather. The state's medical marijuana law does not address such facilities.

State regulations spell out that a registered patient or caregiver
may possess up to 2 grams of marijuana. To register, patients and
their physicians must fill out applications and submit them to the
state. It remains illegal to sell or distribute marijuana.

The township did write the couple a ticket for the business but later
withdrew it until the language of the moratorium could be adjusted.

Rob Usakowski, Kimball Township supervisor, said the planning
commission was expected to meet Tuesday night to discuss zoning
language that other municipalities have adopted and see whether it
might be incorporated into the township's zoning laws.

He said the township's major concern about the business is its
location, which is across the street from Landmark Academy, a charter school.

"It is not an issue of us saying we don't want them in the township,"
he said. "It was an issue of location."

Debra Amsdill said the center has 300 patients.

Sharon Patton, a Worth Township board of trustees member, said the
township was caught off-guard when the Amsdills announced they were
going to open a center at 6672 Lakeshore Drive.

Patton said township officials found out about the plan at a recent
trustees meeting.

"Everybody was surprised when the gentleman stood up and told us who
he was," she said. "We are a little bit shaken by the news, to begin with."

Patton and the township's zoning administrator, Jerry Bostic, said
the Amsdills must get a special land use permit to open the business.
Such permits are needed for any business that opens in the township
that is not specifically allowed in the zoning ordinance.

The building is owned by Alexander and Yvonne Weiss. Attempts to
contact the owners were not successful. Debra Amsdill said she and
her husband are leasing the building, formerly used as a landscaping
and tree-removal business.

Patton predicted some resistance to the idea of a marijuana
compassion center in the township.

"I believe that we will question it very strongly," she said.

Patton said the state law creates a legal gray area, but the township
will follow the law. Township officials plan to contact the Michigan
Township Association for legal advice, she said.

On a personal note, Patton said the location probably isn't the best.

"I don't think this is the best place (for a compassion center)," she
said. "It is right on M-25. I don't think it's the best use of that
property at this time."

Bostic said one or two people from the township have called to express concern.

"They are not too happy with it, I guess," he said.

He said the next step is for the Amsdills to submit an application
for a permit. He said no date has been set for a meeting with the
planning commission.

Bostic said that, under a special permit, the township could make
stipulations about the use of the property, something he hopes the
township does.

"I would like to have some kind of control over it," he said. "Other
than that, it doesn't matter to me one way or another."

Debra Amsdill said she thinks things will work out great in Worth Township.

"We are not anticipating any problems," she said. "It seems like a good fit."