CALEDONIA ZBA UPHOLDS DENIAL OF MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

CALEDONIA TWP. - The township will not be home to a new medical
marijuana dispensary - at least not yet.

The Caledonia Township Zoning Board of Appeals, following a
recommendation from its zoning administrator stating that such a
facility wasn't legal as proposed, decided Wednesday night it would
keep the dispensary from opening within the township.

The dispensary was proposed by Perrinton resident Doug Markva. It was
slated to be located at 2611 E. M-21, Suite A.

During a previous interview with The Argus-Press, Markva said the shop
would contain 12 lockers that could be rented out to caregivers who
would grow marijuana elsewhere. The caregivers would rent the lockers
for $50 apiece and bring in any excess marijuana they grow. The
marijuana in the lockers would then be sold by his dispensary to other
caregivers or patients in need, whose medical marijuana credentials
would be checked.

Markva said a Corunna-area location would keep patients from being
forced to drive to Flint or Lansing to get their marijuana.

"There's a big need out there for this," Markva said Wednesday night.
"There's people out there who can't grow it. There's people out there
who are too handicapped to grow it."

However, township planning and zoning administrator Doug Piggot said
he doesn't believe the proposed dispensary was legal under the
specifications laid out by the Michigan Marijuana Act (MMA), which was
approved by voters in 2008.

"I don't believe that is a permitted use," Piggot told the ZBA
Wednesday.

Because he belived the dispensary would not be following state law,
Piggot denied a zoning permit for the business submitted by Markva.

The board upheld Piggott's initial denial unanimously.

"The Michigan Marijuana Act is what it is," board member Bill Yocum
said. "It does not equate dispensaries or co-ops with care giving."

Under the MMA, patients can grow up to 12 plants and possess up to 2.5
ounces of medical marijuana for their own use. Certified caregivers
can grow up to 12 plants or possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana for each
patient they are a certified caregiver for - with a maximum of five
patients per caregiver.

Piggot said Markva's plan to sell marijuana was contradictory to the
law. He questioned why the law contains limits on the number of people
a caregiver can provide for if retail sales are permitted.

"My denial is based on the description... as (Markva) proposed it,"
Piggot said.

Despite the denial, Markva said he is not giving up on trying to get a
dispensary in the Corunna area.

"This isn't over. I will be retaining a lawyer," Markva said to the
board. "You cannot discriminate. You cannot interpret (the law) the
way you see it."