Galien Township is in the middle of a month of meetings on seven proposed medical marijuana establishments.
Planning commissioners have heard about three potential ventures already and will hold hearings this week at the Township Hall on four more proposals.
Township Clerk Jennifer Richter said the Planning Commission is having a series of public hearings this month after which commissioners will meet at 6 p.m. Monday, April 30, at the Township Hall to vote on the seven medical marijuana business proposals. The proposals will then go on to the Township Board for its approval.
She said the businesses and individuals requesting special use permits will have to go to the state for licenses. She also said the public hearings this month cover all the first-round applicants.
“We don’t know if we will have any more hearings this year,” she said. “It depends on the outcome of the first round.”
Galien Township is among area municipalities deciding to consider medical marijuana business over the last year. Their reasons for doing so range from getting extra revenue for their communities to meeting the needs of people with health problems.
Green Mitten Agricultural Group LLC was the first to get a hearing April 9 for property at the corner of Nye Road and U.S. 12. The business wants to have a medical marijuana facility that wil cultivate and process. The land is zoned industrial.
Adam Kaufman is seeking to open two medical marijuana facilities, which were the subject of two public hearings April 16. He wants to have a cultivation facility on the 18000 block of Pardee Road on land zoned agricultural, and he wants to cultivate and process on the 17000 block of Smith Road on land zoned industrial.
Planners will review proposals tonight and Wednesday at the Township Hall.
Med Farm of Michigan Inc. will present plans at 6 p.m. tonight for a cultivation and processor facility on the 3800 block of U.S. 12. That land is zoned agricultural. McCoy Creek Naturals will present plans at 8 p.m. tonight for a processor facility on agriculturally zoned land on the northeast side of Adams Road.
A 6 p.m. Wednesday planners will review the request from Jade Forest Farms for a cultivation facility on agriculturally zoned land on the 17000 block of Gardner Road. An 8 p.m. hearing will cover the request from Southwest Michigan Cultivators to build a cultivation/processor facility on residential-zoned land along Gardner Road.
The Township Board voted in favor of opting in to the state medical marijuana facilities law last July after a number of public hearings before the Planning Commission and Township Board. The board then approved a separate police powers ordinance and zoning ordinance amendment in February.
Galien Township earlier set maximum numbers of facilities for four of five categories and did not authorize any retail facilities. The board put the maximum number of grower facilities at eight, the maximum number of processor facilities at five, the maximum number of secure transporter facilites at two and the maximum number of safety/testing facilities at one.
