City Of Traverse City Announces Next Steps For Recreational Marijuana Permitting

The City of Traverse City received 17 applications for recreational marijuana licenses last week, according to a press release issued by the Office of the City Clerk on Thursday afternoon. That number falls below the 24-license limit that the city commission agreed on when it officially adopted a recreational cannabis ordinance in May. As a result, the city clerk’s office said that it will not need to proceed with a competitive scoring process that would have likely added several months to the licensing process.

Of the 17 license applications received, the clerk’s office said that only 16 came in before last Friday’s 5pm deadline. As a result, only those 16 applications will be honored. Applications were received “for all 12 addresses currently licensed as a medical cannabis provisioning center,” as well as for four additional businesses that don’t currently have dispensaries in Traverse City.

Of the licensed medical providers seeking recreational licenses, one of them (WL Green Ventures, doing business as The Cured Leaf) is looking to move from its existing location at 707 South Garfield Avenue to 1525 South Division Street. The press release from the clerk’s office noted that a request from WL Green Ventures to transfer its medical license to the new location is currently “pending approval.” The WL Green Ventures application for a recreational dispensary lists the South Division location.

Another of the licensed businesses seeking a recreational permit, located at 314 Munson Avenue, never opened its doors as a medical provisioning center. That location was initially licensed to a company called Royal Highness LLC, but the recreational application is under the business name Thanos, LLC, suggesting that the location and license may have been sold. The 314 Munson Avenue property was listed for sale last year.

As written, the City of Traverse City’s recreational marijuana ordinance specifies where stores can be located based on numerous districts, or “subareas.” The ordinance does not allow the city to issue more licenses for a subarea than are allowed within that specific radius. Per the city clerk’s press release, however, the 16 applicants are distributed throughout the various subareas in a way that does not exceed the number of licenses allowed in any given area. This factor, too, allows the city to avoid a competitive scoring process.

Still, the city promises an “extensive and robust” licensing process that will require each applicant to submit “a tremendous amount of documentation” to be vetted by “a number of city departments.” The process also entails a “substantial review’ by the city clerk’s office, as well as additional investigations of each applicant to be conducted by the Traverse City Police Department. City Clerk Benjamin Marentette said that he “looks forward to working with these businesses…as expeditiously as possible,” adding, “I anticipate that we will be in the position to issue licenses by March 2023, rather than June 2023 as previously indicated since we will not have to use a competitive scoring process.”

The clerk’s office noted that it could “open up another application window in the future for adult use cannabis retail facilities,” given that eight or more licenses would still theoretically be up for grabs under the city’s 24-license maximum. “The City Clerk does not have an anticipated timeline for if and when additional applications would be accepted; however, in no event does the City Clerk intend on allowing additional applications until the existing applications have been reviewed and licenses are issued to eligible applicants from the initial batch.”

A full list of applicants is below:

Applicants currently licensed as medical marijuana dispensaries in Traverse City:

·       Revolution Strains, Inc (Nirvana Center), 223 Lake Avenue

·       Zenyo, LLC (Olswell Cannabis), 728 East Front Street

·       The District Park, LLC (Skymint), 822 East Front Street

·       Rocky North, LLC (Green Pharm), 719 Parsons Road

·       Oak Flint, LLC (Cloud Cannabis), 356 Munson Avenue

·       Thanos, LLC, 314 Munson Avenue

·       The Cannabar, LLC (Highly Cannaco), 752 Munson Avenue

·       Securecann, Inc (House of Dank), 514 Munson Avenue

·       WL Green Ventures (The Cured Leaf), 1525 South Division Street

·       Lighthouse, 704 South Garfield Avenue

·       Gage Cannabis Company, 1025 Hannah Avenue

·       Leoni Wellness, LLC (Puff Cannabis Company), 1226 South Garfield Avenue

New applicants with no existing City of Traverse City medical license:

·       Verts, LLC, 117 South Union Street

·       Lume Cannabis Co., 401 West Front Street

·       Fantasies Unlimited Group, 514 East Front Street

·       Traverse City Cannabis Company, 934 Hastings Street

Pictured: A map illustrating where each applicant’s business location falls in relation to the City of Traverse City’s subareas for recreational marijuana permits.