FERRYSBURG PLANNERS TO TAKE UP MEDICAL POT RULES TONIGHT

FERRYSBURG -- A draft ordinance regulating the use and growth of
medicinal marijuana will be discussed by the Ferrysburg Planning
Commission at 7 tonight.

Planning Commission Chairman Roger Jonas said the ordinance is
intended to clarify parts of Michigan's Medical Marijuana Act of
2008, and to keep from drawing attention to licensed growers and
users of the plant.

Tonight's discussion is the first step in considering an ordinance
that Jonas and City Manager Craig Bessinger said is similar to those
in Grand Haven and Grand Haven Township.

Ferrysburg planners will hold a public hearing on the ordinance next
month, Jonas said. The commission will then review the ordinance and
make a recommendation to the Ferrysburg City Council.

The proposed ordinance would limit where caregivers could grow
marijuana. Some of the requirements call for growers to use a locked
main building that is inaccessible on all sides. Growers using lights
would be required to assure that they are shielded so as not to
disturb neighbors.

The ordinance would also exclude caregiver businesses from zoning
ordinance sections that cover medical and dental offices, outpatient
clinics, and emergency medical centers.

Registered patients would also be forbidden from smoking marijuana in
an area visible to neighbors or other members of the public.

The ultimate goal of the ordinance is to clarify what Jonas called an
ambiguously worded amendment to the state Constitution.

"We're trying to comply with the Michigan law, which can be somewhat
confusing at times," he said.