Royal Oak Planning Commission recommends denial of marijuana business near school

ROYAL OAK — On Feb. 8, the Royal Oak Planning Commission held public hearings on the special land use and site plans for two proposed marijuana facilities selected out of more than 30 applicants by the City Manager’s Office.

The Planning Commission voted 3-2 to recommend denial of Gatsby Cannabis Co.’s proposal and 3-1 to recommend approval of Royal Treatment’s proposal. The Royal Oak City Commission will have the final say on both items.

Two planning commissioners — Eric Klooster and Woody Gontina — were absent from the meeting.

 

Gatsby Cannabis Co. proposal

Members of the public packed the Royal Oak City Hall chambers on the first proposal after Oakland Schools widely publicized its opposition to the proximity of Gatsby Cannabis Co. to the Oakland Schools Technical Campus-Southeast.

The plan calls for an 8,400-square-foot grow area, a 1,400-square-foot processing area, and a 1,600-square-foot retail space. The petitioners propose a complete exterior upgrade, substantial interior improvements and a significant number of environmentally sustainable features at the site of Karl Heinz Auto Center, 5130 Meijer Drive.

In a letter, Oakland Schools Superintendent Wanda Cook-Robinson wrote, “If approved, Gatsby Cannabis Co. could operate just feet from our OSTC-SE. Michigan law prohibits a marijuana establishment from operating within 1,000 feet of a pre-existing public or private school.”

During the meeting, Oakland Schools’ legal counsel, Lara Kapalla-Bondi, said the distance of the proposed marijuana business is 88 feet.

“That’s unprecedented! I am not aware of any other community that permits a marijuana facility that close to a school,” Kapalla-Bondi said. “City ordinances require a 1,000-foot buffer (with schools with a curriculum equivalent to K-12).”

She said the tech center provides vocational classes and training to 11th and 12th graders who are bused in from high schools in the county for morning and afternoon sessions.

She added that the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act also provides for a 1,000-foot buffer from a school.

“(Approving this) sends a horrible message that children’s worth is determined by their career path,” she said. “There’s no way to grant a special land use permit for this site without violating state law or without devaluing the aspirations of 800 kids.”

Parents and other members of the public expressed concerns with traffic, visual distractions and messaging.

Royal Oak City Attorney Aaron Leal said the school was established before the area in question was zoned industrial; while its ability to operate as a school would not be permitted under the current zoning map, it was grandfathered in.

He said that he could not comment on the particular issue of proximity because two lawsuits were filed against the city, including one regarding the school buffer, and he had not yet been able to discuss the cases with the City Commission in closed session.

Leal did say that the city’s zoning amendments regarding marijuana regulation provide  for “deviations to required standards that allows deviation to the setback,” including the 1,000-foot buffer.

Members of the Planning Commission said the map the city made available to potential applicants regarding marijuana facilities identified industrial areas where such activity is permitted, but did not include the vocational school.

“I think that when staff were looking at schools, they looked at schools in traditional single-family zoning, which is where schools are supposed to be,” Planning Commissioner Sharlan Douglas said. “Applicants developed plans and submitted proposals based on the understanding there was no educational buffer or education setback in this area.”

She said the petitioners made “a good-faith application to us” and that the body should “judge it based on that good-faith application.”

Mayor Michael Fournier said he was “struggling with the technicalities of the law,” citing that he believed the project fits into the seven criteria for special land use laid out in the city’s ordinances regulating such projects.

Douglas and Fournier, who both voted against denial of the special land use and site plan, also both sit on the City Commission. Planning commissioners Gary Quesada, Ann Bueche and Paul Curtis voted in favor of recommending denial.

Quesada said that while he thought it was a “great project,” he did not believe the body “has the discretion to override state law in this instance.”

Bueche said she felt the school should have been identified on the map and its omission was “regretful,” as Royal Oak voters supported recreational marijuana retailers in the city.

“I feel the buffer should stand, personally,” she said. “Considering this is a school and considering the 1,000 feet, I also can’t support this project.”

Curtis said that he did not have a problem with cannabis in the community, but he did object to “treating this particular school differently than all the other schools in our community.”

“I don’t want to communicate to students that they are somehow other than the other students in our community,” Curtis said.

 

Royal Treatment proposal

The second public hearing concerned Royal Treatment, a proposed marijuana retailer located in an approximately 3,000-square-foot vacant building at 408 to 424 E. Harrison Ave. It would combine the parcels and operate as 420 E. Harrison Ave.

The petitioners propose substantial exterior and interior improvements, including environmentally sustainable aspects such as a pocket park, screened parking, green roof, solar panels and wind turbines. If approved, the operators pledged $50,000 annually to Royal Oak charities.

Residents in nearby residential properties opposed the project. Concerns included traffic from the initial estimated 200-300 sales per day, an increase in crime, as well as a divergence from the character of the area.

Many neighbors said the area in question, while zoned industrial, is a haven for upscale residential developments that has led to a “renaissance on the south end” of the city.

The property in question is located roughly 50 feet from the building of Phil Baciak, who spoke at the meeting and penned a letter of opposition to the project on behalf of residents of the 33 on Harrison Condos. It is also near Lawson Park.

“The City of Royal Oak has nearly 12 square miles of land — we as a community need to protect the sanctity of our neighborhoods and refuse to allow these high-traffic retail businesses (similar to a fast food restaurant) to open in areas that we have transformed into beautiful residential zones,” wrote Christopher Ott, president of The Crossings at Irving Avenue Homeowners Association, in a letter to the Planning Commission.

Fournier said he understood the traffic concerns.

“I’m not sure that there’s a solution for anything that would go there,” he said.