COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – It’s an issue that has divided the Coldwater community and has also split the Coldwater City Council.
After another lengthy discussion which featured opinions on both sides of the issue, the Coldwater City Council voted 5-4 on Monday night to have retail recreational marijuana stores operate only in the C-4 General Business District in the area of I-69 and U.S. 12 and for the time being not in the C-2 business district which covers the downtown area.
In addition, the amendment to the city’s zoning ordinance would call for no separation distance between retail Recreational Marijuana Establishments in the C-4 General Business District and the businesses would have to be at least 1,000 feet from schools.
The vote came hours after a petition demanding that Coldwater citizens be given the chance to vote on whether or not retail recreational marijuana businesses should be allowed to operate in downtown Coldwater was turned in at the City Clerks office.
Organizer Dave Rumsey said the petition contained 335 signatures of qualified electors which he said was greater than the five percent of the votes cast in the city during the last gubernatorial election.
Rumsey said in a statement that pursuant to state law, the question on the petition had to be submitted to the registered voters in the City of Coldwater for a vote “at the next regular election.”
But Mayor Kramer said after City Attorney Megan Angell reviewed the petition, they could not honor it due to a pair of reasons. He said the five percent law only applies to whether or not a city should opt in or opt out and how many retail marijuana establishments can operate in a municipality. In addition, Kramer said the language was not in the form of an ordinance amendment as required by state law.
Kramer said after last night’s vote that the downtown marijuana question can be addressed again sometime in the future.
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