By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
The Village of Lake Orion proposed Medical Marijuana Ordinance has taken more than a year to nail down, with some major changes from the previous draft.
The public will get a chance to voice their opinions on the ordinance on’Nov. 2’at the continuation of the planning commission public hearing, which begins at7:30 p.m.
The purpose of the proposed amendment to ordinance 26.90,’Title XV, Land Usage, Chapter 158, Section 158.01, Article 13, would be to add section 13.31, permitting caregiver operations in a specific zoning district.
Without a local ordinance, primary caregivers would adhere solely to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act of 2008, which requires that each caregiver be 21 years in age or older, that they have not been convicted of a felony’involving illegal drugs, a violent felony, or a felony in the last ten years, and that they must operate out of an enclosed, secure facility.
Lake Orion’s proposed ordinance would restrict a caregiver and caregiver’s operation to the CC Commercial Corridor Zoning District. The CC district borders M-24 from Elizabeth St. to Flint St., and includes one parcel south of Flint St. The ordinance requires that only one caregiver operate per property.
Previously the ordinance was proposed to restrict caregivers to village residential boundaries, but concerns prompted council members to monitor it in the commercial district.
Village Manager Darwin McClary said council proposed the change ‘as a result of concerns expressed by a few village residents who felt that it would be more appropriate to have the operations in a commercial district rather than a residential district.?
All of the requirements for the operations remain the same, he said.
A registered primary caregiver must be 1,000 feet from any other registered caregiver. With the change in zoning, this means more than likely only one caregiver would be permitted in the CC district.
‘If one was on the very north end, and one was on the very south end, it might work, but we’d have to figure it out,? Planning and Zoning Coordinator Mario Ortega said.
The previous draft would have enabled possibly three caregivers in residential boundaries.
It is also a matter of the available real estate.
‘It depends on whether they can get the property, it’s up to the vagaries of the real estate market,? he said.
Once a registered caregiver finds a property, he/she must register it with the village, and undergo a preliminary security check by the Lake Orion Police Department.
According to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act of 2008, a registered primary caregiver can grow up to 12 plants per patient, or 2.5 ounces of usable marihuana, in an enclosed, locked facility. Primary caregivers may serve up to five registered patients.
Under the state statute, caregivers must deliver the medicine to the patient’s residence.
If a registered patient chooses to cultivate their own medicinal marijuana for their private use, they can continue to do so at home in the residential village, lake district and multifamily district, in accordance with the state statute.
The public hearing will begin at?7:30 p.m.’next Monday’at the Village Council Chambers, located at 21 E. Church St. in Lake Orion.