MEDICAL MARIJUANA ORDINANCE FOR BUSINESSES DELAYED BY PORTAGE CITY COUNCIL

PORTAGE -- Portage has tabled action on an ordinance amendment
regulating medical marijuana businesses in the city.

The Portage City Council heard comments Tuesday from several people
opposing the proposed ordinance that would regulate medical marijuana
as a home occupation much like the cities of Kalamazoo and Grand
Rapids have done for months.

After concerns were raised about the distance from schools and
requiring the growth of marijuana plants indoors, the council voted
4-3 to table action until its July 26 meeting.

Councilman Terry Urban suggested the tabling so that additional
information could be provided, specifically dealing with occupational
safety issues such as use of pesticides and other chemicals within a
home to grow marijuana.

Urban also had concerns about the 1,000-foot common distance from
schools -- based on the federal drug-free zones standards -- that he
said appeared to prohibit medical marijuana dispensing in many parts
of the city.

In January, the council approved a six-month moratorium regulating
medical marijuana and asked the Planning Commission to come up with a
proposal. The Planning Commission spent weeks reviewing it, took
comments from only two people and unanimously recommended its approval.

The ordinance amendment sets guidelines for dispensing of marijuana,
such as hours of operation, number of caregivers and patients,
distances from schools, hours of operation and parking.

The ordinance amendment that is being proposed would allow a home
occupation with no more than one primary caregiver who can cultivate
no more than 12 marijuana plants per patient. It also allows
possession up to the maximum permitted by law -- 2.5 ounces for each
patient.

The home occupation could not be within 1,000 feet of a school,
daycare facility, recreational park and playground or 100 feet from a
public or private youth center, public swimming pool or video arcade.

Plants would have to be grown indoors, within locked enclosures.
Patients can only visit between 8 a.m.-8 p.m., with no more than five
patients allowed at one time.

The ordinance would be enforced by the Community Development
Department and the Portage Police Department.