ATTORNEY OUTLINES MEDICAL POT OPTIONS

About 25 people attended a special meeting of the Village of Suttons
Bay Planning Commission last week to hear an attorney present a
briefing titled "Options for Zoning Regulations concerning Medical
Marijuana."

Attorney Bryan Graham of Antrim County has been working for several
years for the village, Suttons Bay Township and numerous other
municipal entities in northwestern lower Michigan.

Suttons Bay's staff planner, Kathy Egan, said nearly all of the people
who attended the one-hour briefing on March 16 were planning
commissioners from Suttons Bay, Bingham and Leland townships, as well
as the Village of Suttons Bay.

According to a written version of Graham's presentation, the attorney
sought to outline options for zoning regulations affecting medical
marijuana sales. Michigan voters approved a referendum to legalize
medical marijuana in 2008.

"Municipalities throughout Michigan are now beginning to address
medical marijuana through zoning, or land use, regulations," Graham
wrote. "Because medical marijuana is new, it is not always possible to
provide specific answers to the many questions that may be raised. It
will take a few years for cases in Michigan to make their way through
the court system, so that some of these questions can be answered. "In
the meantime," Graham continued, "a municipality can only do its best
in crafting regulations that best suit the individual needs and
desires of that municipality."

Earlier this month, the Suttons Bay Village Council, the Bingham
Township Board, and the Suttons Bay Township Board directed their
respective planning commissions to draft zoning ordinance language
concerning medical marijuana. All of those municipalities, plus
Leelanau and Elmwood townships, have adopted temporary moratoriums
banning the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries within
their jurisdiction until zoning amendments can be adopted.

At least one medical marijuana business has already opened in Leelanau
County. However, Elmwood Township is challenging that business because
it failed to obtain a "business permit" prior to opening.

According to Graham, municipalities have the option of regulating
medical marijuana or banning it - at a possible high legal cost.
Municipalities with limited resources should not try to prohibit
medical marijuana because that option would likely "invite an
expensive and protracted legal challenge," he wrote.

Graham added that municipalites can consider whether to regulate
medical marijuana in concentrated or dispersed land use patterns. A
concentrated pattern would allow marijuana "care facilities" only in
limited areas of the municipality. A dispersed pattern would likely
make such facilities less noticeable by spreading them throughout all
districts.

Municipal planners must also consider what other uses will be allowed
at medical marijuana facilities, Graham wrote. He said that
regulations covering the sale of medical marijuana paraphanalia, and
the establishment of venues for people to gather and ingest the drug
may also be considered.

In addition, local governments drafting zoning ordinance amendments
must consider whether to allow medical marijuana facilities by
"special permit" or "by right." Special permits, Graham said, require
wide public notice, while allowing medical marijuana facilities
without a special permit would allow such facilities to open in a
"less conspicuous" fashion.

Egan said the Village of Suttons Bay, Suttons Bay and Bingham township
planning commissions are all slated to continue work on zoning
ordinance amendments related to medical marijuana at their upcoming
meetings in April.