More than 60 Greater Lansing communities are banning recreational marijuana businesses

Lansing State Journal

LANSING — Elected leaders in the vast majority of Greater Lansing communities have said no to recreational pot shops in their backyards.

East Lansing and Lansing, which will allow the businesses, are exceptions.

In 2018, Michigan voters made it legal for people 21 and older to use, possess and grow small amounts of marijuana. Local officials cannot stop adults from consuming marijuana in their jurisdictions, but they can prohibit cannabis businesses locally.

More than 1,365 towns across the state have banned marijuana businesses, according to a list compiled Nov. 1 by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

That includes at least 62 communities in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties.

The state's Marijuana Regulatory Agency began taking licenses applications for recreational marijuana businesses Friday. Recreational facilities with state licenses are de facto allowed in any Michigan community, unless a municipality passes an ordinance to opt out of the program.

East Lansing approved an ordinance last week to get “some regulation in place” before Nov. 1, City Attorney Tom Yeadon said.

The local rules passed unanimously and allow recreational retail sales along with growers, secure transporters and safety compliance facilities. The ordinance mirrors the city's rules for medical marijuana businesses.

East Lansing's latest ordinance does not allow marijuana microbusinesses — small-scale operations where a business owner can grow, process and sell up to 150 marijuana plants in a single location — nor does it allow for any businesses with on-site marijuana consumption. Council members have suggested they might amend those restrictions at a later date.

“The law opts you in if you don’t do anything,” Yeadon told the council. “This allows you to opt in with regulations in place, and then you can always opt in other facilities afterwards.”

Likewise, Lansing allows both medical and recreational marijuana businesses. Rules went into effect this month for recreational marijuana facilities in the capital city.

Beginning Nov. 18, Lansing will be accepting applications from businesses seeking local licenses to operate marijuana transporters, processors and the compliance facilities that test product for safety.

Eventually, Lansing will allow up to 28 marijuana retailers, four social clubs, four microbusinesses and 55 grow facilities. Lansing's city clerk's office has not yet announced when the application period will begin for those businesses.

Meridian Township, Ingham County's third most-populous community after Lansing and East Lansing, has taken a less permissive approach to recreational businesses.

Although the township opened its doors to medical marijuana businesses, trustees voted in July to keep out recreational establishments.

At the time, trustees said they wanted to gauge the impact of medical marijuana on their community before potentially deciding to lift the ban on recreational facilities.

In the tri-county area, most of the recreational marijuana opt-out communities also have bans in place against medical cannabis establishments.

A handful of townships and villages in ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties do not appear on the most recent opt-out list, although some notifications may not have reached the state yet, officials said. Any community that has not yet opted out could do so in the future.

The following communities have banned recreational marijuana businesses.
Ingham County
Alaiedon Township
Bunkerhill Township
Dansville
Delhi Charter Township
Ingham Township
Lansing Charter Township
Leroy Township
Leslie
Leslie Township
Locke Township
Mason
Meridian Charter Township
Onondaga Township
Village of Stockbridge
Vevay Township
Wheatfield Township
Williamston
Williamstown Township
(Aurelius Township officials say they opted out, although the township was not on LARA's unofficial list as of Friday)
Eaton County
Bellevue Township
Benton Township
Brookfield Township
Carmel Township
Charlotte
Chester Township
Delta Township
Village of Dimondale
Eaton Rapids
Eaton Rapids Township
Eaton Township
Grand Ledge
Hamlin Township
Olivet
Oneida Charter Township
Potterville
Roxand Township
Sunfield Township
Vermontville
Walton Township
Windsor Charter Township
(Kalamo Township officials say they opted out, although the township was not on LARA's unofficial list as of Friday)
Clinton County
Bath Charter Township
Bengal Township
Bingham Township
Dallas Township
DeWitt
DeWitt Charter Township
Duplain Township
Eagle
Eagle Township
Essex Township
Village of Fowler
Greenbush Township
Lebanon Township
Village of Maple Rapids
Olive Township
Ovid
Ovid Township
Riley Township
St. Johns
Victor Township
Watertown Charter Township
Westphalia
Westphalia Township
Source: Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Nov. 1, 2019

Recreational marijuana is legal, but Lansing's largest employers don't allow it

Contact reporter Sarah Lehr at (517) 377-1056 or slehr@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGLehr.

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