City of Clare in limbo over just how it might regulate locations of medical marijuana growers, sellers

     CLARE – Clare City Commissioners chose to put off for three months a decision on whether to confine medical marijuana sales to commercial districts in the city.
     Michigan voters in 2008 passed a law giving a person with a debilitating medical condition and a doctor’s written certification permission to use marijuana to cope with pain. 
    

Clare City Manager Ken Hibl

The person may grow the plant or obtain the product from a registered primary caregiver licensed by the state. How or if the city regulates either is the issue.
     “This is a land use issue and not an issue on using marijuana,” City Manager Ken Hibl stressed to commissioners at their June 7 meeting.
     Where may the city allow marijuana to be grown or sold?
     Hibl and Police Chief Dwayne Miedzianowski attended a seminar highlighting aspects of the law. The Michigan Municipal League website poses in one article three choices a municipality faces: to do nothing, prohibit it or regulate it.
     Hibl sought a recommendation from the city planning commission that came up with a six month moratorium on deciding a policy.
     The city would have to modify the zoning ordinance to permit this new type of business in designated areas such as residential neighborhoods and/or business districts.
     The state controls issuing licenses for those who grow hemp for medical marijuana.
Hibl plans to investigate how other municipalities deal with the issue.
     Commissioner John Koch said during the next three months the city can look into options. Commissioner Bill Horwood noted there may be changes in the law so in the interim the city has a chance to weigh options.           Hibl asked the panel what they thought if their neighbor was licensed to cultivate marijuana. Do you want to determine the number of plants allowed? Should there be a six-foot fence around the property?
      “We won’t have an issue until we have an issue, then we’ll scramble to put something in place,” Hibl said. “Somebody has to grow it. Usually the grower is not the user.”
     Commissioners voted on a three-month moratorium. Commissioner Jean McConnell was absent.
     In other business, the commission:
*Read Hibl’s letter reply to Garfield Township resident and former city employee Joe Hart. In it Hibl said his inquiry bore no merit to the allegations Hart lodged against Bob Bonham, supervisor of the Department of Public Works.
*Listened as Commissioner John Koch read a written statement during public comments from Marian Matyn.  Matyn initially shared the letter with the parks and recreation advisory board. In the letter she declined the mayor’s reappointment to the board for reasons she had not applied nor had she been invited to re-apply for another term. At the conclusion, Koch asked the mayor to respond, but he declined since it was the public comment period, Humphrey said. Filling a vacancy on the advisory board was not brought up again at the meeting.
*Received a list of single vacancies on these boards and commissions: parks and recreation advisory, cemetery advisory and library.
*Was brought up to date on the lawsuit against the estate of Robert Boos, whose burned out mobile home at the Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park is deemed a public and private nuisance.
*Learned that several property owners are challenging taxable values through the Michigan Tax Tribunal. These include MidMichigan Medical Center, Glen’s Market and Brookwood Manor.
*Learned that the MidMichigan Community Action Agency Board of Directors favored the purchase of the former CarQuest Building on Fourth Street contingent upon agreement with the current property owners. They tentatively approved donating the property to the city as the new location of the historical railroad depot, providing that restoration project proceeds as planned.
*Renewed asphalt contract with Central Asphalt of Mount Pleasant at the price of $53.97 per ton, the same as last year. The city has estimated using 850 tons of asphalt which comes $875.50 underbudget.
*Approved mutual referral agreement with Listening Ear Crises Center that has an office in Clare. There is no financial obligation but the agreement guarantees a high rating by the Council on Accreditation.
*Agreed to spend $5,300 to have MDOT contractor pave on-street parking areas of US-127 business route between Third and Fifth streets this summer. MDOT will pay to repave main portion but not the shoulder areas.
*Voted to apply special assessments on five different single lot parcels for a total of $1,180.
*Awarded two engineering contracts. Dixon Engineering will receive $10,000 to prepare bids, solicit bids, write specifications to have the water tower sandblasted and painted in spots. Gourdie Fraser will receive $50,000 to engineer plans for a streetscape at Beech and Fourth streets.