UNION TOWNSHIP PLANNERS RECOMMEND OK OF MEDICAL

Union Township planners Wednesday recommended that the township board
adopt a zoning ordinance to regulate where and how medical
marijuana-related businesses could operate in the township.

After a public hearing at which no one spoke for or against the
proposed law, the planning commission voted 7-0 to move the process of
adopting the law ahead. Township zoning administrator Woody Woodruff
said the law could be up for final adoption by the township board as
soon as mid-July.

Attorney Andria M. Ditschman of the Lansing-based Hubbard Law Firm,
who helped the township planning commission draft the law, proposed a
few technical changes in wording, but the proposed law is very similar
to the draft she presented a month ago.

"My purpose is public health and safety," said Woodruff, who likely
would be performing inspections of the businesses to make sure they
comply with the law. "I'm not qualified to be a policing agent."

Planning Commission Chairman Phil Squattrito said the township's role
would be to make sure that the process of growing the herb was done
safely.

"We're making sure they don't have crazy wiring or they're producing a
lot of mold," Squattrito said. The Michigan Medical Marijuana Act
requires that marijuana for medicinal use be cultivated in a locked,
enclosed space, which generally means indoors under artificial light.

Many growers use hydroponics, and the damp conditions can lead to
mold.

The state law allows registered patients to grow up to 12 plants for
their own use, and licensed caregivers to grow up to 12 plants each
for up to five patients. The proposed zoning law would allow indoor
marijuana cultivation of up to 72 plants.

Dispensaries would be permitted only in business zones, and
large-scale growing operations only in industrial zones under the
current plan. Access to either kind of operation would be strictly
limited.

The growing of marijuana for medicinal use would be considered a
so-called "accessory use" under the township's residential zoning law.
Continued...

Actual use of medical marijuana would be prohibited at dispensaries,
growing facilities and so-called "marijuana clubs," which are
envisioned as educational operations. Use of medical marijuana would
take place only in patients' homes.

Dispensaries and marijuana clubs would have to be separated from each
other by at least 1,000 feet, and from schools, churches, day care
centers, parks and residentially-zoned property by at least 500 feet.
For growing facilities, the separation would increase to 1,500 feet
from each other and 1,000 feet from the other uses.

Woodruff said the Isabella County Planning Commission would review the
proposal, then send it to the township board for adoption. The county
planners are expected to see the proposal yet this month.