By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Ortonville —  On Oct. 23, two variances for properties eyed for possibly the village’s first retail marijuana facilities were denied by the village council. The council, acting as the Zoning Board of Appeals, considered the variances at 456 S. Ortonville Road and 490 S. Ortonville Road. Both commercial properties are currently vacant.
“The village’s zoning ordinance says buildings have to be a certain distance from the roadway and other boundaries, for safety, aesthetics, and other reasons,” said village Manager Ryan Madis. “Both buildings were built closer to the road than the village requires for new buildings. This happens over time, with older buildings or those that were never approved by the building department to begin with.”
The properties in question were the former sites of Country Counter tops and Provanco Roofing. Both properties are on M-15, and are currently closer than the zoning ordinance allows.
Currently, both properties have an attached license for a marijuana retail facility. The variance would have allowed them to use the existing buildings and update them and put on additions, but the ZBA, following the recommendation of the planning commission, did not feel they met the state criteria for a variance and would like any new buildings on the properties to follow the current zoning ordinances.
The current ordinance requires a 25-foot front setback for M-15 commercial properties, measuring from the right-of-way to the building’s edge.
“These ‘nonconformities’ exist all over the place, but when a major improvement takes place is when a building has to be made to comply with the ordinance or be granted a variance, allowing it to be closer than it’s supposed to be. A variance ‘runs with the land’ so approving one means that property will perpetually not meet the standard of the village. There are times where that is appropriate, and the state law has a strict criteria for approval, but the village’s ZBA determined these two applications did not meet that criteria.”
In August 2022, village voters narrowly approved by a 221-216 margin an ordinance to permit marijuana establishments in the village. In July 2022, a group Ortonville Residents for Action circulated a petition to get the measure on the ballot for residents to decide if establishments should be allowed. Then, in September 2022, the village council granted two conditional marijuana establishment proposals. The applicants will also need approvals from the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, the Michigan Department of Transportation as both locations are on M-15, and Oakland County.