CITY OF KALAMAZOO MOVES AHEAD ON MEDICAL-MARIJUANA ORDINANCE

KALAMAZOO - Some Kalamazoo residents seek home-occupation permits to
operate a beauty salon or give music lessons in their homes.

Now city officials are proposing to add new language to Kalamazoo's
zoning rules to permit state-licensed caregivers to grow and sell
prescribed medical marijuana from their homes.

Far from a Walgreen's with a drive-through dispensing window,
Kalamazoo's proposed rules would allow the home businesses to have
only five patients who have been diagnosed by physicians with
"qualifying, debilitating medical conditions" that can be treated by
using the otherwise illegal drug. Jill McLane Baker | Special to
GazetteMarijuana grown for medicinal purposes is shown here.

Under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, passed by state voters in
2008, qualifying patients can possess up to 2.5 ounces of "usable
marijuana" or cultivate up to 12 plants in an "enclosed, locked facility."

Qualifying patients who don't grow their own may designate a caregiver
who is allowed to produce it for up to five different patients.

While it may be a commercial relationship, state law limits designated
caregivers to receiving "compensation for costs associated with
assisting a registered, qualifying patient."

The Kalamazoo City Commission accepted the draft zoning amendment for
first reading Tuesday night and set a public hearing for Sept. 20 when
citizens will have an opportunity to ask questions and react to draft
language that is patterned after a similar measure already adopted by
Grand Rapids.

Kalamazoo's existing home occupation ordinance requires an operator to
live at the location and devote no more than 25 percent of the home's
floorspace to the business.

In addition, these businesses could not be located within 1,000 feet
of a school and any unusual lighting would have to be shielded between
11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

A renter would have to have the property owner's approval to conduct
the business and the marijuana must be grown indoors.

Also set for a Sept. 20 public hearing is a zoning ordinance amendment
regulating the location and use of wind turbines.

Under the plan, building-mounted units will be permitted in all zoning
districts; more location restrictions are applied to freestanding units.

Depending upon their location, building-mounted units could range from
10- to 20-feet in height above the roofline, while freestanding units
will not exceed 60 or 200 feet, depending upon their design and location.

All units will have to comply with city noise rules.