LOCAL

Local officials saying no to pot businesses

Times Herald

Local communities in the Thumb are only just beginning to talk about marijuana sales.

Several have already notified the state that they’ll be opting out of allowing pot-related businesses.

David Harns, a spokesman for the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, said that includes Brown City, and Elmer and Minden townships in Sanilac County. At the time, he said he wasn’t aware of any in St. Clair County municipalities opting out.

However, several other communities in the area are also poised to impose a ban.

Clint Holmes, city manager in Brown City, where officials had once pressed pause on a proposed dispensary to learn about medical marijuana, said they got the idea to take action early about recreational rules during a Michigan Municipal League convention in September.

“They strongly advised their membership, which (includes) Brown City, that if a community wanted to opt out of recreational marijuana sales that they should do so by ordinance,” he said, “and that they should prior to the board of canvassers” made it official.

The action came soon after Michiganders voted in favor of Proposal 1, legalizing recreational use and purchase of pot for those 21 and older. The state’s board of canvassers certified the Nov. 6 election’s results this week, and the law takes effect Dec. 6.

Although Harns said no communities in St. Clair County had notified the state, St. Clair Township is already planning to take action at its next meeting.

The township board set a public hearing during its Nov. 19 meeting. However, Supervisor Mike Boulier said Tuesday that a hearing isn't required and that the board will instead consider an ordinance to opt out Dec. 3.

When asked why, the supervisor referred to the language of the proposed ban itself. It's to "help protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of St. Clair Township," he said. The township's board meets at 7 p.m. at 1539 S. Bartlett Road.

The city of St. Clair and Clay Township will also consider banning marijuana sales during its City Council meeting on Monday.

St. Clair city officials will meet at 7 p.m. at in the banquet room at the Pine Shores Golf Course, 515 Fred Moore Highway. They usually meet at city hall. Clay Township's board meets at 7 p.m. at 4710 Pointe Tremble Road.

Algonac City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at 805 St. Clair River Drive, and its members will also address recreational marijuana.

Harns said the state does encourage communities to inform the agency when they’ve opted out so potential applicants can be made aware if there’s a conflict.

“We haven’t started taking applications yet,” he said. “We won’t for quite some time, (but) we have to within a year.”

Unlike the state’s medical marijuana regulations, Harns said the recreational law “says unless you pass an ordinance to opt out, you are considered to have opted in.”

What other communities in the region plan to do is still unclear.

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, Port Huron City Manager James Freed said he had no recommendation ready for what he called a “policymaking decision for the mayor and council.”

During Monday’s City Council meeting, one resident did ask about officials’ intent during public comment. Mayor Pauline Repp responded, “I’m sure it’s something we’ll discuss in the near future. But so far, we have not.”

Freed noted that city residents have traditionally supported pro-pot initiatives.

In the Nov. 6 election, for example, nearly 63 percent of Port Huron voters supported Proposal 1. And in a 2014 ballot question, a little more than 51 percent sided with decriminalizing pot possession.

But the city manager added, “There’s a difference between people who say, ‘We want recreational marijuana or decriminalization,’ and having a dispensary downtown.”

Marysville City Manager Randy Fernandez said his first email the morning after the election was to the city’s attorney, Gary Fletcher, asking he look into what the city needs to do to respond to Proposal 1.

The ballot initiative lost by 109 votes in Marysville.

“It has been a topic of discussion on the city managers’ listserv,” Fernandez said, talking about an email group. “Like if I want to put a question out … it goes amongst all city managers out there. I can tell you from what I see, I have not found a community to opt in.”

In the past, Fort Gratiot Supervisor Jorja Baldwin said board members had a “pretty big consensus” to opt out of marijuana-related issues.

“But we have not directly spoken about this since the election,” she said. “So, it will come up very soon, I’m sure. For the most part, the board feels we don’t want to be the guinea pig for some of these uses.”

While that was a more decisive action for communities like Brown City — Holmes said, “We said, ‘No,’ and we’re moving on” — there is a mixed history of support among voters in others.

Proposal 1 results in the Fort Gratiot were narrow — with the majority voting in favor but by just a 16-vote margin. Baldwin contrasted it with the township’s support of the tax increase to support St. Clair County’s Drug Task Force two years ago.

“We’ve always kind of taken that as our signal that people were still interested in continuing to fight drugs and the crimes that come with them, understanding that people don’t always (associate) marijuana use with a lot of the Drug Task Force cases,” she said.

“With this vote, close to call. (But) nobody really wants to see a dispensary on 24th Avenue.”

“I think it’s a different question,” Baldwin said. “… Just because I like craft beer doesn’t mean I want to live next door to a craft brewery.”

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.