Tyrone, Hartland townships join growing county list in opting out of pot

If you are over 21, you can legally smoke recreational marijuana in Michigan as of Dec. 6, but you may have trouble finding a store to buy it from in Livingston.

The Tyrone and Hartland township boards both unanimously passed ordinances banning marijuana establishments on Tuesday night, joining a long list of communities recently imposing the same prohibition.

“We don’t want to be the guinea pig,” Tyrone Township Supervisor Mike Cunningham said. “Is this a temporary opt out? I don’t know. We didn’t want to debate the issue. There are too many unknowns, so we are going to opt out.”

Hartland Township Manager James Wickman said his community opted out of allowing marijuana establishments for the same reason as Tyrone and other communities in Livingston County, including Brighton, Howell, Pinckney, and Genoa and Green Oak townships.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions,” Wickman said.  “Regulations are a year away and without knowing what they are, it doesn’t make sense to permit it, regardless of whether we think it matches our community values.”

Proposal 1, which allows individuals 21 and older to purchase, possess and use marijuana and grow up to 12 marijuana plants for personal consumption, passed by a 56% to 44% margin statewide.

Livingston County saw a similar margin, with about 54% voting yes to the proposal, while about 45% said no.

The law becomes official today.

In Tyrone Township, 3,005 voters said yes, while 2,663 said no. In Hartland Township, it was nearly a 50-50 proposition, with 3,751 voters in favor and 3,660 in opposition.

Cunningham said the opt out was not meant to snub voters.

“Our voters stated their piece,” he said. “As elected officials, it is our job to determine how it works in our community. I am neutral, I don’t care, it doesn’t bother me.”

He said the township hasn’t ruled out opting in in the future.

Wickman said the Hartland board had only a brief discussion about opting in at a later time as it was too premature to give much thought without having more information.

Tyrone’s ordinance as passed simply prohibited marijuana establishments within the boundaries of the township and states penalties for violation, including a maximum of 90 days in jail and a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500.

Hartland adopted a resolution for its ordinance prohibiting marijuana establishments, which states in part that the township desires to promote the health, safety and welfare of the general public by prohibiting marijuana establishments and to achieve those goals the township board finds it in the best interest to adopt the ordinance.

Their ordinance states a violation is considered a municipal civil infraction and imposes a similar fine, but does not reference jail time.

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Susan Bromley at 517-552-2854 or sbromley@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanBromley10.