Lincoln Park Mayor Thomas Karnes (right) speaks about the issue of recreational marijuana shops in the city of Lincoln Park while City Councilman Larry Kelsey (left), City Attorney Ed Zelenak and City Manager Matt Coppler listen during the May 20 City Council meeting.
Survey set to measure what residents want
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
LINCOLN PARK – With a tie vote preventing the issue from being tabled, the City Council voted to prohibit commercial marijuana businesses in the city, with Councilman Carlos Salcido absent.
However, city officials have placed a survey on the city website, and hope to gain a clearer understanding of how residents feel about commercial, non-medical, marijuana businesses within the city.
City ordinance currently allows medical marijuana facilities in its general industrial zone district, on Papalas Drive, from Southfield Road to Outer Drive, which would be impacted only if commercial marijuana businesses are approved.
Councilman Michael Higgins moved, with support from Thomas Parkinson, to table the resolution. Higgins, Parkinson and Karnes supported the motion, with Donna Breeding, Lylian Ross and Larry Kelsey opposed. With a tie vote, the motion to table the motion failed.
The original resolution, to prohibit marijuana businesses within the city, then passed, with yes votes cast by Breeding, Kelsey, Ross and Karnes, and no votes cast by Higgins and Parkinson.
The resident survey, on the city’s website, at citylp.com/news_detail_T6_R178.php, seeks resident input on commercial sales and other marijuana-related businesses. Survey results will be anonymous, but seek to learn whether the survey respondent is a resident or non-resident, plans to move to the city, owns a business in the city or elsewhere, and whether the respondent is interested in starting a business in Lincoln Park.
The survey asked whether the respondent would want to expand marijuana facilities outside of the current general industrial zone.
The survey asks respondents whether they would favor marijuana businesses in commercial zones, industrial zones or both. It also asks whether the city should allow class A, B or C growers, processors, secure transporters, safety compliance facilities, retail businesses and microbusinesses, which would be limited to 150 plants, and could process, package and sell marijuana, and how many types of businesses should be licensed for each category.
Class A growers are allowed up to 100 plants; Class B, 500 plants; and Class C, 2,000 plants.
The survey also asks whether residents would want to restrict marijuana businesses from being a given distance from schools, parks, churches, day cares and residential areas.
The survey also asks whether hours of operation, location, signage, the distance between marijuana businesses, building security and zoning should be further regulated by the city council.
At the May 20 City Council meeting, Higgins reiterated that the city’s registered voters approved marijuana ballot proposals twice, and that the city needs to generate more tax revenue.
“We have over 200 empty buildings in Lincoln Park that could be feasible for these types of businesses,” Higgins said. “It is a brand-new industry, and if we turn it down and don’t bother to look at it at all. They are going to be looking at other places.
“You say we can go back and look at it later, but by that time, the industry is going to be looking at other places, they are going to be established and they are not going to want to come here.”
Kelsey said when the marijuana business issue first arose, he asked for recommendations from the police chief, the assistant city attorney and the building official, and he said he learned that there were advantages to waiting until the state decided on its parameters for marijuana businesses.
“They suggested that we wait until we get more clarification from the state,” Kelsey said.
Parkinson countered with the opinion that the state of Michigan has had too much control over the city for too long of a time period.
“I trust the state as about as far as I can throw the Mackinac Bridge,” Parkinson said. “All it says in this thing is ‘the state shall, the state shall, the state shall, the state shall,’ and it says nothing that the city ‘shall have the right’ to give or deny a license. So, if you are asking me to give my vote to the state of Michigan to have control, it will never happen.”
Resident Joyce Murray asked how pharmacies would be impacted, to which Karnes replied that they would have to be licensed through the city to allow sales within their established stores.
Parkinson reminded the council members that if businesses were limited to an industrial zone, it would not have a positive impact on the currently empty storefronts in the city.
City activist Chris Dardzinski said commercial marijuana businesses could pose a real benefit to the community.
“Economics for a city like this is niche retail, nightlife and restaurants, but I see no community benefit to ‘the state shall, the state shall’ – I am so sick and tired of that language,” Dardzinski said.
Resident Jason Barrett said the state legislation specifically gives power to communities.
“The are only using the state to come up with the regulations,” Barrett said. “City councils and township boards are the ones that get to decide which type, how many, and where they go, and I am thinking that was done intentionally from the people who first pushed this, and I am thinking that waiting until Jan. 6 of next year is a very long time, as Councilman Higgins pointed out. We might then be too late for the investors that will go elsewhere.”
(Sue Suchyta can be reached at [email protected])