COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – After a nearly one hour discussion, the Coldwater City Council took no action Monday night on a request from the Coldwater Planning Commission to put a 90 day moratorium on any new marijuana grow facilities and retail marijuana outlets in the city’s industrial area.
Mayor Tom Kramer brought the matter up during last week’s Planning Commission meeting after so much time was spent on potential odor problems from a proposed grow facility on Industrial Avenue and a recreational marijuana processing facility on Butters Avenue. Two nearby businesses also expressed their displeasure about the grow facility.
Kramer said he along with City Manager Keith Baker, Planner Dean Walrack and City Attorney Megan Angell could not come to a consensus on what direction to take. He said it was a complicated matter and they had no recommendation for the Council. The Mayor admitted at the end of the discussion he had changed his mind and wished he had not brought the up idea last week.
Council member Michael Beckwith said they and the state had pretty strong ordinances right now to control marijuana odors.
Fellow Council member Emily Rissman said she felt comfortable with the ordinance that is already in place.
The lengthy discussion on the issue came during a marathon City Council meeting that lasted for over three hours.
“Michael Beckwith said they and the state had pretty strong ordinances right now to control odors. ” Michael Bekwith doesn’t live down wind from Darling. Whatever regulations there aren’t properly enforced.