MERIDIAN TWP. â Voters in Meridian Township will decide on Aug. 2 whether the township will prohibit recreational marijuana stores.
And voters will have to pay attention when they cast their vote: a yes vote means the voter wants to prohibit recreational weed shops in the township. A no vote means the voter is in favor of allowing the shops.
âIf you want them, you have to vote no,â Meridian Township Manager Frank Walsh said.
Election day information
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 2Â for the state primary election.
Some Meridian Township voters will decide on a Haslett Public Schools sinking fund millage proposal. All township voters will weigh in on a Meridian senior citizen, recreation and human services millage renewal, and the initiation of an ordinance to prohibit adult-use marijuana establishments.
âShall the Charter Township of Meridian … adopt the following initiated ordinance that completely prohibits adult-use (also known as ârecreationalâ) marihuana establishments ⊠within the boundaries of the Township,â the ballot language reads.
Ballot information can be found on the Michigan Voter Information Center website and polling locations can be found on Meridian Townshipâs website.
Meridian Township and marijuana
Over 60% of Meridian Township voters supported Michigan’s 2018 ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana.
The township does allow for medical marijuana facilities, but there are currently none in the township, Walsh said.
He said he suspects if a majority of people vote to allow recreational marijuana establishments in the township, those businesses will look to locate there.
Walsh noted there are plenty of recreational marijuana establishments that are within a 10-minute drive from the township.
In neighboring municipalities the marijuana establishment scene is growing, with Bath Township’s first cannabis retail, processing and grow facility developing on East Saginaw Highway; Ascend Cannabis opened in East Lansing this past spring; and a marijuana provisioning center is joining Pleasantrees on Merritt Road in East Lansing.
Walsh said he doesnât have a sense of how people will vote in August; heâs heard from people on both sides of the issue.
âThe voters can decide what they want in their community,â he said.
AÂ case âforâ recreational marijuana
Rejecting cannabis prohibition in Meridian Township reaffirms the stance voters took in 2018 when they voted to legalize marijuana, township resident and business owner Marc Santucci wrote in an opinion column to the Lansing State Journal.
âThat statewide vote helped ensure that people have access to safe, tested products in a highly regulated environment,â he said. âItâs important that we do not overturn the will of the people at the local level.â
He said if this proposal is defeated and recreational marijuana establishments are allowed, the law makes it âabundantly clearâ that local governments have full authority to limit the number of marijuana businesses allowed within its borders. They can also regulate where the businesses can locate and what their hours of operation may be.
“By voting no on Meridian Townshipâs Proposal 1 on Aug. 2, we can ensure our community joins the side of progress,â he said.
A case âagainstâ recreational marijuana
Meridian Township Treasurer Phil Deschaine said he supports prohibiting recreational marijuana establishments in the township.
As treasurer he believes the cost of licensing, monitoring and policing these stores will quickly exceed the $25,000 or so the township would get in additional tax revenue per store. It wonât be the windfall people think it will be, he said.
âFor example, if just one of our licensed pot store owners disagrees with our regulations, sues the township, all that year’s revenue would likely be spent defending the townshipâs ordinance,â he said.
Last year, municipalities in Michigan earned $56,000 per licensed cannabis shop, up from $28,000 the previous year. For their combined 19 stores, Lansing and East Lansing will receive more than $1 million, the Lansing State Journal reported in April.
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Deschaine said as a township official he also has to ask himself how allowing multiple cannabis stores would affect Meridian Townshipâs reputation.
âI don’t believe pot shops will add to our standing as a prime community,â he said.
For more information on Meridian Township elections, contact township officials at 517-853-4300 or ClerksOffice@meridian.mi.us. More information is also available on the townshipâs website.
Contact Bryce Airgood at 517-267-0448 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.
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