Often considered the 420 capital of Michigan and home of the Hash Bash, the City of Ann Arbor may be rethinking its ordinance on medical marijuana provisioning centers. After a wave of applicants, the city council voted 11-0 on Monday 4-16 to enact a moratorium on all new provisioning center applications. While the city will still accept applications, they will not be considered for at least 60 days.
The city has received over 30 applications from groups interested in opening provisioning centers, and some are starting to fear that the area will become too saturated. Placing a hold on new applicants will give the council time to reconsider the existing requirements. Currently there is a required buffer in place of at least 600 feet between dispensary locations, however that may be increased to 1000 feet over the next few months. The City Council is also discussing the potential of placing a cap on the number of provisioning center permits that will be issued, similar to the structure they have in place for liquor licenses.
Ann Arbor’s Mayor Christopher Taylor made it clear that the decision to enact the moratorium had nothing to do with the currently operating dispensaries, which are actually considered to be very well run and professional businesses. Many of the existing operators are local residents who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into improving their location and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Treecity, an established high end provisioning center on the west side of Ann Arbor, is no exception. The operators have consistently chosen to enforce higher standards than required, including becoming the only dispensary in the city to implement a 21+ age requirement. They are currently in the process of remodeling their location on Jackson Ave, creating an even more modern and sophisticated space to better service their clients. From offering well paying jobs to local residents, to providing a safe and comfortable location for patients to acquire medicine, locations like Treecity have been more than welcome in the local communities.
So far the city has approved eight provisioning centers, Treecity at 2730 Jackson Ave, Arbors Wellness at 321 E. Liberty St, Greenstone Society at 338 S. Ashley St., Stadium Ventures Inc. at 2460 W. Stadium Blvd., Medicine Man of Ann Arbor Inc. at 2793 Plymouth Road, Arborside at 1818 Packard St., Om of Medicine at 111 S. Main St., and Bloom City Club at 423 Miller Ave.
The map below shows the possible additional Ann Arbor provisioning center locations under the current ordinance in green, however many of the parcels will not qualify if the buffer distance is changed to 1000 ft.
We will continue posting updates as things progress – check our City Of Ann Arbor Marijuana Ordinance page to get the latest news.