Traverse City planning commissioners are studying changes that could allow for new types of medical marijuana facilities in the city, as well as create new zoning rules for the height and appearance of buildings along Eighth Street.

At a study session this week, City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht walked planning commissioners through recent changes in Michigan law that establish a new licensing system for the growing, processing, testing, transporting and selling of medical marijuana. The legislation also taxes medical marijuana products and requires the systematic tracking of plants from “seed to sale.”

Trible-Laucht noted the new laws – signed by Gov. Rick Synder in late 2016, with the first licenses expected to be issued this December – require municipalities to proactively “opt in” in order for licenses and facilities to be legal in their community. “If the city were to do noting, then none of these facilities would be allowed to operate within the city,” Trible-Laucht explained. “In order for these new facilities to be permitted within the city and to be licensed within the state…the city has to affirmatively adopt an ordinance that says, ‘Yes, we want these facilities, these are the types of facilities that we want, and this is how many facilities of each type that we want.’”

Unlike previous patient-caregiver laws – which restricted medical marijuana patients to growing no more than 12 plants for their sole use and caregivers to growing no more than 72 plants for themselves and up to five patients – the new legislation allows production facilities to grow up to 1,500 plants. Retail dispensaries, or provisioning centers, are also allowed to make a profit on medical marijuana sales for the first time; previous legislation required caregivers to sell their products at cost. Trible-Laucht noted Michigan plans to tax provisioning centers three percent on their gross sales, with a quarter of those funds being distributed to local municipalities. Should such facilities be allowed in Traverse City, that would potentially provide a revenue stream to both Traverse City and Grand Traverse County, Trible-Laucht explained.

Planning commissioners expressed a willingness to explore allowing medical marijuana facilities in Traverse City – but detailed a litany of questions they wanted answered before adopting an ordinance. “I would have a question about the demand on infrastructure based on the size of that type of facility: the electrical service grid, water, wastewater and those needs,” said Planning Commissioner Jim Tuller. Planning Commissioner Brian McGillivary stated a desire to learn more about the various types of allowed facilities, their logistical requirements and potential impacts, while Planning Commissioner Gary Howe questioned how officials could adequately solicit enough public feedback on a proposed ordinance.

“(In terms of) hearing from the public, I don’t know how we get a good gauge because of the social and legal stigmas of the market,” said Howe. “People are pretty quiet about (marijuana use), so I don’t know how we really get a good sense of what’s needed.”

Trible-Laucht thanked planning commissioners for their questions, saying it would help staff identify areas of further study for the board as they continued to discuss the ordinance at future meetings. “We’re taking notes on what kinds of things you’re going to want to know before you delve into it,” she said. City Planning Director Russ Soyring pointed out potential applicants were waiting in the wings should officials eventually decide to allow the new medical marijuana licenses in Traverse City. “We get the phone calls, and people are asking and waiting and wondering what the city’s action is going to be,” Soyring said. “I think there is a great deal of interest to have some of these licenses in the city if the city permits them.”

Also likely to be an ongoing topic among planning commissioners is a potential new “form-based” zoning code for Eighth Street, which would change the rules for development in the corridor. Soyring explained that unlike the existing traditional zoning code, which focuses on what types of uses are allowed or disallowed in buildings, the form-based code focuses on the physical design and appearance of buildings themselves. “It’s a new, rather novel way that communities are starting to look at development,” Soyring said.

Among the changes proposed in the new zoning plan is altering allowed building heights on Eighth Street. Existing zoning rules primarily dictate a maximum of 45-foot buildings throughout the corridor, though properties set further back can build up to 75 feet and some parcels – like the Governmental Center – can go up to 90 feet. The new form-based zoning code calls for building heights ranging from 44 to 87 feet along the road, depending on the type of building, with a minimum two-story requirement. Taller buildings at the “gateway” to the corridor – including near Eighth and Woodmere and Eighth and Boardman – could be permitted if they incorporated community elements like affordable housing.

Planning commissioners expressed mixed opinions on the plan, asking Soyring to come back in the future with more information on how the new code would impact existing properties – potentially turning some into non-conforming parcels – and an explanation of how the new plan would better serve development compared to existing rules. Planning Commissioner Mike Grant said he hoped future discussion would address at least one key question about a potential change in zoning plans.

“What problems are we trying to solve, and is this actually going to solve them?” he asked.

Pictured: Eighth Street corridor