Traverse City could join other northern Michigan communities – including Kalkaska, Kingsley, and Acme – in legalizing medical marijuana facilities as soon as July.

That’s the timeline Traverse City commissioners set for themselves Monday for adopting new city regulations governing what types of medical marijuana facilities can operate where in the city. New laws that went into effect in December in Michigan allow five types of marijuana business operations in the state, including growing marijuana, processing the plant, conducting laboratory testing, providing secured transportation of the drug, and selling marijuana through provisioning centers/dispensaries. But communities must choose to “opt in” and pass zoning and police power ordinances detailing which types of licenses are allowed – whether some or all – and under what conditions in order for such businesses to operate legally in that city.

City commissioners had previously unanimously expressed their support for allowing medical marijuana facilities in Traverse City. At Monday’s meeting, commissioners reiterated that passing an ordinance allowing such facilities was one of their highest priorities for the coming year and approved a schedule and plan suggested by staff to make that goal a reality by this summer.

“It’s an ambitious calendar for what could happen…if there are no wrinkles and (the process) goes smoothly,” said City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht. Despite the aggressive timeline, Mayor Jim Carruthers said commissioners were motivated to address the licensing issue quickly to help business owners and medical marijuana patients. “I believe it’s the will of this commission to make something happen in a timely manner,” Carruthers said.

The commission’s plan calls for establishing an ad hoc committee of commissioners who will meet to develop a recommended licensing ordinance and bring it back to the full commission for approval. The board agreed Monday to have Commissioners Brian McGillivary, Michele Howard, and Amy Shamroe serve on that committee. At the city commission’s next meeting on May 7, commissioners will determine a list of specific questions and issues the ad hoc committee will work on.

On a parallel track, the city planning commission will also meet over the next several weeks to craft a recommendation on the zoning aspects of the new medical marijuana ordinance. City commissioners will tentatively hold a special meeting on June 12 to discuss both the ad hoc committee’s and planning commission’s recommendations, to be followed by a required July 2 public hearing. Commissioners could adopt the new medical marijuana ordinance as soon as the night of that public hearing.

Several city boards and officials have already started weighing in on the proposed regulations. At their April 17 meeting, planning commissioners took a first stab at drafting rules for the new ordinance, expressing support for allowing all five types of medical marijuana licenses in the city but potentially setting some type of distance requirement to space out dispensaries. The board showed interest in placing businesses in more intensive commercial districts and restricting the growing and processing of plants to industrial areas. Commissioners also discussed adding rules to limit the impact medical marijuana businesses would have on neighboring properties, such as requiring that the smell of marijuana not be detectable beyond the business parcel and that lights not shine outside buildings between sunset and sunrise.

Traverse City Police Department Chief Jeff O’Brien sent a letter to City Planning Director Russ Soyring earlier this month expressing several concerns about allowing medical marijuana facilities in the city. He cited a study conducted by the Rocky Mountain High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area – a federally funded law enforcement group that has expressed opposition to legalizing marijuana – that claimed Colorado had seen sharp increases in violent crime and homelessness after legalizing marijuana. O’Brien said he anticipated a “huge investment of time and resources” required of the TCPD to address marijuana-related issues if the city allowed such businesses.

“A commitment to this industry will demand additional law enforcement personnel as it did in Colorado,” he wrote. O’Brien asked that if the city did proceed with allowing medical marijuana businesses, it limit dispensaries to two in the city – one on the east side and one on the west side of town.

Meanwhile, Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board members also debated the proposed ordinance at their Friday meeting. DDA CEO Jean Derenzy told city commissioners Monday that the board’s discussion focused on the number of dispensaries that should be allowed in the city, particularly downtown. “We decided that we didn’t want the provisioning centers in the downtown until we had time to really thoughtfully and respectfully look at the location and the number of (dispensaries) in the downtown,” Derenzy said. She added that the DDA hoped to hold a joint meeting with the city planning commission to discuss the medical marijuana ordinance.

“We’re not saying no, we’re just saying let’s have time to look at the ordinance and find the right locations for the provisioning (centers) so we can protect the retail on Front Street,” Derenzy said. “We only have two percent vacancy of retail, and we do want to protect that."