YPSILANTI: CITY PAVES WAY FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES, GROWING
FACILITIES

Ypsilanti will soon be issuing licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries.

City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday night allowing
for the licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries and growing facilities.

Third Coast Seed Co., an existing facility at 19 N. Hamilton St., can
now apply for a license although the 60-day moratorium is still in
place. Applications for new facilities will be accepted in 45 days.
The moratorium, which is for licenses for new businesses, was
approved at Council's Feb. 1 meeting.

In addition, a resolution was unanimously approved that allows new
dispensaries to apply for a license in 45 days instead of 75.

"It's been a hard one and there are other councils I know that are
still working on it," said Mayor Paul Schreiber.

City Planner Teresa Gillotti and members of the city staff have been
working since the first reading of the ordinance at the Feb. 1
meeting to implement changes suggested by Council. Gillotti reviewed
those changes with Council during the second reading at the recent meeting.

"One of changes is we won't cash the check or deposit the application
fee unless actively reviewing it," she said, referring to the $2,500
application fee.

After the 45 days, applications that meet the established criteria
will be accepted, date stamped and the fee will be accepted. Among a
host of other requirements, the application requires information that
will be used for a background check; a map showing the building is
more than 1,000 feet from a school and 500 feet from another
dispensary, as required by the zoning ordinance; security plan
description and proof of insurance for fire damage, with a minimum of
$500,000 worth of coverage.

Applications for licenses within the same 500-foot zone will be
accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis and processed one at a
time, she said.

"We want to make sure we're not creating a conflict," Gillotti said.
"However, I feel the fairest process is you meet the threshold
criteria and you're the first one in line."

Gillotti said there could potentially be a line of people waiting
outside city hall when applications begin being accepted.

If denied, the applicant will have time to appeal before another
application is processed. If the appeal is denied, Gillotti said the
city will not wait to move on if the first applicant chooses to
pursue a court case.

Various councilmembers voiced their opinions regarding the queue process.

Councilman Daniel Vogt said he had reservations because the conflict
it could create with competing businesses that both qualify under the
current standards.

Vogt said there needs to be some way to break a tie because it is
likely to occur.

"I would assume there wouldn't be any violence but that kind of thing
does tend to insight violence," he said. "I'm having a lot of doubts
about whether that is the correct way for us to go."

Gillotti said the city staff has been discussing ways of handling
such situations so it would not create a situation where applicants
would be camping out for a week, waiting to get a license.

"We're committed to coming up with a system that we can clearly
communicate with applicants about how the process would work," she said.

Councilman Michael Bodary said Council has spent three months
discussing it and he didn't see where it was suddenly going to come
up with any new process.

"I think it's time to move this on and get on with the city's
business," he said.