ROYAL OAK, Mich. – A contentious night in Royal Oak as the Planning Commission got an earful from the public over two proposed retail marijuana shops.
One proposed site is located on Meijer Drive in the north end of town, while the other is in a residential area on Harrison in the south end of town.
Commissioners have already voted no on sending one of the sites up for consideration to the city council.
First up was the parcel on Meijer drive seen in the video player above. It’s zoned industrial, but the sticking point for some who came out Tuesday (Feb. 8) night was just 88 feet away.
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“What I care about is my child,” said parent Darshawn Turner. “If you open up that dispensary, it will destroy their impressions of what this community stands for.”
“No matter anyway you slice it, they’re kids,” said parent Katherine McGee. “This facility put an ordinance in place not to have this facility 1,000 feet from the school.”
The problem the commission was grappling with is everything around the school is industrial. The school itself is a non-conforming land used there.
In the end, by a 3-2 vote, the commission opted not to recommend the Gatsby Cannabis Operation on that site to the full city council for review.
The second location marijuana entrepreneurs want is this one in the video player above on east Harrison; It is surrounded by residential streets on all sides, including a condo complex where the homes are going for around $600k.
The applicant and their attorney presented their schematics Tuesday night for the second location. No public comment has taken place at the moment.
The situation for the first location on Meijer Drive is not over yet as the mayor who sits on the planning commission says there is a concern of litigation over those properties.
