MEDICAL MARIJUANA HEARING TO BE SET

The East Lansing City Council will introduce three potential medical
marijuana ordinances and vote to approve a public hearing regarding
the issue for Oct. 19 during its Tuesday night meeting at the Union's
Gold Room A and B.

After last week's work session, the council directed Assistant City
Attorney Tom Yeadon to compile a synopsis of the three potential
ordinances and highlight what each does and does not allow, Yeadon said.

"(We are doing this) so that the public is well informed of what each
ordinance does and the pros and cons of each, and to inform the
public about what current medical marijuana laws allow without
regulation," he said.

The ultimate goal is to update the city's website with concise and
complete information regarding the issue of regulating medical
marijuana in East Lansing, City Manager Ted Staton said.

The work of compiling and updating this information will be split
between Yeadon, Assistant City Manager Marie McKenna and the city's
communications department, Staton said.

"We are anxious to hear from the public about which approach we
should take and the council is a little uncertain about what the best
approach is," he said.

Progress is being made on the issue during the council's 90-day
moratorium, Councilmember Nathan Triplett said.

"We're making progress slowly but surely," he said. "It can be
daunting to take a look at these ordinances in their legal language
and extrapolate what it means to someone in East Lansing who is
licensed for medical marijuana."

The council will also review a reapplication for the rezoning of an
area to be used for a proposed hotel, pharmacy and bank development
at 1525 W. Lake Lansing Road.

The project's developer, Caddis Development Group, LLC, previously
applied to conditionally rezone the whole area for a B2 zoning, which
is for auto-accommodating businesses such as fast food restaurants
and gas stations, Councilmember Kevin Beard said.

The developer is applying to only rezone a much smaller corner of the
site to allow for a proposed pharmacy, he said. There were a great
deal of issues raised by the East Lansing Planning Commission and
nearby residents about the rezoning, Beard said.

"We're kind of starting the process over again," he said.

If the council approves the introduction of the application, it will
be referred to the Planning Commission for a public hearing, Beard
said. The Planning Commission will then either recommend it to the
council for denial or approval.

The developer seems to have made an effort to consider the concerns,
Triplett said.

"The developer has made a good faith effort to respond to
neighborhood concerns and we will start the evaluation process to see
if the changes they have made have satisfied the neighbors," he said.