Meridian Voters May Decide Fate of Clinic

MARIJUANA CONCERNS PROMPT ATTORNEY TO PURSUE PETITION DRIVE

MERIDIAN TWP. - Township voters may decide the future of a medical
clinic on Okemos Road if a local attorney can get enough signatures on
a petition by April 5.

Stephen Schultz has notified the township he will seek a reversal at
the ballot box of the township board's approval of a rezoning of a
former day care center from residential to office use.

In a letter to the township clerk's office March 7, Schultz indicated
his intent to file a petition regarding the rezoning of 4133 Okemos
Road. Schultz is a principal in the law firm of Fahey, Schultz,
Burzych & Rhodes, whose offices have been at 4151 Okemos Road since
2008.

The rezoning was approved by a 4-2 margin at the board's March 1
meeting.

Shannon Wiggins, who has an office on Michigan Avenue in Lansing, and
her husband purchased the building to establish a medical clinic.

However, Schultz has raised concerns about Wiggins' certification of
patients as eligible to apply for medical marijuana cards. Schultz's
partner, William Fahey, said during a recent public hearing on the
rezoning he believed the clinic would become a mecca for medical
marijuana card seekers.

Wiggins has repeatedly said medical marijuana will not be dispensed at
the proposed clinic.

Township Deputy Clerk Joan Horvath said Schultz must gather 2,387
petition signatures, or 15 percent of the township residents who voted
in last November's election. The notice of intent to file a petition
puts the rezoning on hold for 30 days.

The request could either go on the ballot for the next regular
election - in this case, Nov. 8 - or the township board might decide
to call a special election.