COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – There was another lenghty discussion during Monday night’s City of Coldwater Planning Commission meeting on a draft of proposed Recreational Marihuana Establishment Ordinances but for now no action has been taken.
Several suggestions were made and the proposed ordinances are expected to come back before the Planning Commission sometime in the future.
The issue has been discussed for over a year after Michigan voters gave their approval to recreational marijuana in November 2018.
Once everything is finalized, there would be a public hearing before it would eventually move onto the City Council.
City Planner Dean Walrack says the ordinances create a framework for the marihuana establishments within the City. The establishments which it enables are those within the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act.
The local licensing process is spelled out. It is being suggested that such establishments be located in areas zoned D-2 Heavy Industrial through Special Use Permission. They would also have to be at least 1,000 feet away from schools and 500 feet from a residential zoned district.
Coldwater City Council member Emily Rissman says according to a poll she conducted on her Facebook page, 69 percent of the over 500 respondents said they would support marijuana retail establishments in the General Business District along U.S. 12 but near the I-69 intersection.
The proposed ordinances would also set a $5,000 per year per establishment fee which is intended to defray costs incurred by the City.
