Grand Haven will join dozens of communities across the state that allow the sale of cannabis for adult recreational use, although local officials have established significant zoning restrictions on where retailers and others could operate. facilities.
The land use ordinance approved by Grand Haven City Council on Monday creates buffer zones that prohibit cannabis-related businesses from operating at a certain distance from each other and from schools, libraries, daycares, parks. and churches. The ordinance enters into force 21 days after its publication.
Depreciation zones mean that retailers, supply centers, producers, processors, and cannabis carriers will have limited areas within the city to locate, primarily around the city’s industrial park on the southeast side of the city. according to city director Pat McGinnis.
“There are very few locations where adult use would be allowed,” said McGinnis, who will leave his position in Grand Haven this week to become Portage City Administrator.
The ordinance’s buffer zones prohibit cannabis-related businesses 1,000 feet from K-12 schools and libraries, and 500 feet from kindergartens, parks, places of worship, and substance use disorder programs. Both adult and medical cannabis recreational facilities must also be kept at a minimum distance of 2,500 feet from each other.
The new city ordinance also limits the operations of cannabis companies from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. marijuana.
The city is likely to create a lottery system to grant special land use permits to applicants who meet the ordinance’s criteria, McGinnis said.
“We will establish a very clear and precise procedure for holding this lottery,” he said.
Grand Haven has previously allowed medical marijuana companies within the city limits. Under an existing ordinance, licenses were granted to three companies, two of which were never opened, including one whose approval expired, McGinnis said. A third medical marijuana permit was issued by the city for a commercial premises opened a year ago New standard recently temporarily closed.
Growing industry
Across the state, 121 municipalities currently allow recreational marijuana businesses for adults, according to a monthly report from the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency. Sales and businesses of medical marijuana are allowed in 162 municipalities, which under state law have the right not to allow marijuana-related businesses within their limits.
Since Michigan voters legalized adult recreational use in 2018, legal sales of all marijuana products have grown rapidly. In May, sales of all products, including flowers, concentrates, spray cartridges, groceries, and liquids, totaled $ 842 million by 2022, well ahead of $ 661.9 million in the first five months of the year. 2021. The industry now directly employs more than 24,000 people in Michigan.
Sales to date of all adult cannabis products in Michigan amounted to $ 705.8 million as of May 31, according to the latest report from the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency. Medical marijuana sales totaled $ 136.2 million.
In May alone, adult sales were $ 163.1 million and sales of medical marijuana products in Michigan were $ 23.2 million.
In 2021, combined sales of marijuana products in Michigan amounted to nearly $ 18 billion: $ 481.2 million for medical use and $ 1.310 billion for adult recreational use.
Nationwide, sales of marijuana products in 2021 reached nearly $ 25 billion and supported more than 428,000 full-time equivalent jobs, according to a February annual report from the Leafly marijuana website.
Leafly predicts U.S. cannabis sales will grow to $ 45 billion by 2025.
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