Pubdate: Wed, 06 Apr 2011 Source: Daily Telegram, The (Adrain, MI) Copyright: 2011 GateHouse Media, Inc. Contact: http://www.lenconnect.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1556 Author: John Mulcahy, Daily Telegram MEDICAL MARIJUANA ZONING ORDINANCE ADVANCES IN ADRIAN ADRIAN, Mich. - The Adrian Planning Commission voted 5-1 Tuesday to recommend a zoning ordinance to the Adrian City Commission to regulate medical marijuana caregiver facilities. Planning commissioner Charles Jacobson cast the only vote against the proposed ordinance. The ordinance now goes to the city commission, which must approve it before it can become law. The ordinance restricts medical marijuana caregiver facilities to B-2, or "community business," zoning districts. The city's B-2 districts are on North Main Street, South Main Street and Beecher Street. Among other things, the ordinance also: n Prohibits medical marijuana facilities within 1,000 feet of each other or of schools, or within 500 feet of churches, public parks or playgrounds or state-licensed day care facilities. n Prohibits the facilities from being situated adjacent to or abutting a single-family residential district. n Prohibits the sale of other products or services at medical marijuana caregiver facilities. The ordinance also limits such facilities to one sign and limits the sign size, prohibits the facilities from growing marijuana outdoors and limits nuisances such as dust, odor or glare that might be associated with growing or processing marijuana. Drive-through or curbside service at medical marijuana facilities is prohibited. Finally, the law requires medical marijuana facilities to be licensed under an as-yet unapproved ordinance that is being written. The city commission will have to approve the licensing ordinance before it takes effect. The recommended zoning ordinance drops language in an earlier version that explicitly stated existing medical marijuana facilities would not be "grandfathered." That presumably means that two existing facilities, Medicinal Solutions Wellness Center, 227 N. Winter St., and The MMM Alliance, 112 W. Maumee St., will be grandfathered under the law and will not have to move. Both facilities are in the B-3, or central business district, zoning designation. The recommended ordinance also drops earlier language that would have limited medical marijuana facilities to one caregiver. After the meeting, Jacobson said he voted against recommending the ordinance because he was not satisfied the commission did everything possible to be sure the rest of the community would be safe and not intruded on by medical marijuana facilities. Part of the problem is that some aspects of the state law governing medical marijuana are still to be clarified, including in some pending court cases, Jacobson said. Michigan's medical marijuana law, approved by voters in 2008, allows registered patients and caregivers to grow a limited number of marijuana plants for use by the patients. Caregivers are limited to five patients each. Planning commission members Chad Johnson, Brian Watson and Carl Phipps were not at the meeting. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.