DOWAGIAC — After four years of watching Michigan’s ever-changing cannabis industry, the town of Dowagiac throws its hat into the ring.
The Dowagiac City Council unanimously approved the City of Dowagiac Marijuana Ordinance Regulation at its Monday meeting at City Hall, 241 S. Front St.
The ordinance establishes that the city is now electing to license recreational marijuana establishments and requires that all recreational marijuana establishments comply with all state regulations as well as local rules and regulations. It also requires all recreational marijuana establishments to obtain a license from the city, establishes parameters for the licensing process, and calls for the establishment of licensing fees and limitations on the number of licenses.
Marijuana establishments will be permitted in the two highway commercial zoning districts more than 1,000 feet from schools and industrial areas. Initially, the application fee will be set at $5,000 and the limit for each type of license available will be three.
“Everything will be in place once (the ordinance) is released,” City Manager Kevin Anderson said. “After a 20-day waiting period after publication, we will be able to start accepting applications.”
There are six types of licenses available:
- Marijuana Grow Facility, Class A, Class B, or Class C License
- Marihuana Processing Plant,
- Marihuana Secure Transportation Establishment,
- Marijuana Retail Establishment,
- Marijuana Micro-Business Establishment, and
- Marijuana Safety Compliance Facility.
The ordinance states that only three permits for each type of marihuana establishment licensed for adult use will be issued by the city.
The following types of AUMEs and permits are not permitted and shall not operate within the limits and jurisdiction of the City:
- Designated consumer establishments
- Excess Marihuana Producer License
- Marijuana Event Organizer Permit
- Marijuana Temporary Event Permit
City officials voted unanimously in November 2018 to get out of the recreational marijuana trade so elected officials, staff and legal advisers can keep up with changing laws and regulations regarding marijuana facilities. recreational marijuana.
Over the next four years, the city has watched neighboring communities, including the City of Niles, Buchanan, Cassopolis, and Edwardsburg, overcome bugs and establish practices that have worked.
“Once everything settled down, the board just moved on,” Anderson said. “I don’t think there’s ever been any particular opposition other than making sure everything is in place.”
“We saw the anguish that so many communities around this suffering were going through,” Mayor Don Lyons said. “The pros, cons and all the hype that came with it and we thought ‘our day will come’. We didn’t want to consume our resources with this.
These four municipalities, along with Berrien County and Cass County, were among 163 municipalities statewide that received payments from the Marijuana Regulatory Fund in March. Each eligible municipality and county received more than $56,400 for each licensed retail store and microbusiness located in its jurisdiction.
The breakdown by municipalities and departments is as follows:
- Buchanan: Number of licenses – five; municipal distributions – $282,267.20
- Cassopolis: Licenses – two; village distributions – $112,906.88
- Edwardsburg: Licenses – two; village distributions – $112,906.88
- City of Niles: Licenses – three; municipal distributions – $169,360.32
- Berrien County: License – nine; county distributions – $508,080.96
- Cass County: Licenses – four; county distributions – $225,813.76
City Manager Kevin Anderson and council believe the city can now move clearly and directly toward establishing reasonable and effective recreational marijuana trade regulations that are consistent and consistent with state law. Over the past six weeks, City Council has considered a series of measures to establish the framework for recreational marijuana businesses in Dowagiac.
“We’re comfortable with that,” Lyons said. “When the Straw Poll was organized by the state, the citizens of Dowagiac overwhelmingly supported it. There was never that kind of issue, it was just how are we going to consume our resources and we thought we had better places to do that than in endless meetings over the course of a year.
