At the Nov. 17 Ann Arbor City Council meeting, the council approved an ordinance reducing restrictions for the distance between schools and cannabis dispensaries in Ann Arbor from 1,000 to 100 feet. This encompasses all pre-existing K-12 public and private schools, excluding art or dance schools.
During the meeting, Ann Arbor City Councilmember Erica Briggs, D-Ward 5, said the ordinance was put in place to support existing dispensaries while still allowing for a buffer between these businesses and schools.
"We had a few Marijuana businesses, because of regulatory changes at the state level, that were going to lose their licenses," Briggs said. "And so, we were forced to reconsider our buffer. What we did at first reading was to ensure no business would pop up adjacent to a school, so we put in a minimum 100-foot buffer."
Prior to passing the new ordinance, the city made exceptions for Crave Cannabis and upcoming dispensary Kings High. The city granted Kings High permission to be within 250 feet of Doughty Montessori School, and for Crave Cannabis to be within 750 feet of Progress Park School at a Sept. 15 meeting. The City Planning Commission staff also proposed a motion Sept. 16 to eliminate Ann Arbor's current limit of 28 licensed marijuana retailers that can operate in the city at a time.
Read more at The Michigan Daily
