POT 'GROW ROOM' GETS AUGUST HEARING

ROYAL OAK - On a night when a public hearing was set for a request to
turn a vast and vacant industrial building into a "grow room" for
registered medical marijuana caregivers, a city commissioner and a
prospective tenant gave a preview of what will be heard.

Mayor Jim Ellison had to remind City Commissioner Chuck Semchena and
David Greene, vice president of First Commercial Realty & Development
Co. Inc. in Southfield, to save the discussion for Aug. 9, the date
unanimously agreed to by the City Commission at its July 12 public meeting.

"If (Aug.) 9 works for you, prepare your presentation and the City
Commission will decide where to go on it," Ellison told Greene and
the petitioner, James Canner, the managing partner of AFKF, L.L.C.,
which owns the building at 2521 Torquay. "We're getting bogged down
in details that will be presented (during the public hearing)."

Ellison said the City Commission may vote at the public hearing to
lift a 180-day medical marijuana moratorium, enacted in April, and
let the petitioner proceed with the request for a certificate of
occupancy. The City Commission approved the moratorium in April to
further study the Planning Commission's recommendation that medical
marijuana facilities be permitted as a special land use in the
general business district.

In May, about one month after the moratorium went into effect, Canner
approached the city about turning half of the 23,000-square-foot
vacant building into a medical marijuana facility for 20 to 25
caregivers to grow and collect in separate rooms.

"You've asked to waive the moratorium and that's a very simple
question for us," Ellison said. "Do we waive the moratorium or not?
Argue your case and bring all the information you want."

Prior to the vote to set the public hearing, Semchena and Greene
debated over whether the building would qualify to grow and collect
under the state law legalizing medical marijuana, approved by voters
in November 2008.

"I am not 100 percent sure, and not accepting at this point, the
statement you're proposing is legal in the state," Semchena told
Greene. "I have not seen anything that allows a grouping of
caregivers under one roof. I haven't seen anything in state law that
encompasses what you're proposing.

"Federal law prohibits what you're proposing. Some attorneys say
state law trumps federal law. It's something we need to address
legally at the hearing."

The vacant building is in an industrial zone at the southeast corner
of Torquay and Delemere, a short walk from the Meijer shopping
center, north of 14 Mile and east of Coolidge. Semchena said The
proposed building is less than a half mile from the closest
subdivision and Semchena suspects "a lot of residents will have
interest in what's going in down the street."

"If you follow the intent of the law, the caregiver is limited to
five patients, then you can limit the scope," Greene said, answering
Semchena. "What we're proposing is 20 to 25 growers, 100 to 125
patients serviced. Sixty-three percent (of Michigan voters) voted for
this, 31,000 approved this law (in Royal Oak). We're suggesting a
facility that will (provide medical marijuana for) less than one-half
percent of 31,000."

Canner would need to prove that there are no other possible uses for
the facility and a rezoning would also be required before a
certificate of occupancy could be granted, according to City Attorney
David Gillam.

"I'm subject to foreclose by financial institutions and desperately
looking for a tenant," Canner said. "It's been vacant for a while."