The city of Grand Rapids has voted to allow medical marijuana facilities.
The city commission unanimously voted to amend a zoning ordinance that will allow medical marijuana facilities Tuesday night.
Mayor Rosalynn Bliss says it was important to get the business community’s opinion on the ordinance.
“But also making sure that we were including neighborhood voice in that decision,” Bliss said.
Because of input from groups of varying interests, the ordinance was amended and discussed multiple times this month before the commission could vote on it. Several provisions were made.
For instance, medical marijuana dispensaries won’t be allowed within 1,000 feet of a school or church unless that organization gives special permission. You can find a full list of the provisions on the city’s website.
While this medical marijuana ordinance goes into effect November 1, recreational use of marijuana is on the state’s November ballot.
Mayor Bliss says the commission did consider the recreational marijuana ballot initiative when drafting the ordinance.
“We don’t even know what the outcome of that is going to be, so we really needed to just focus on the medical marijuana today and the ordinance that we passed,” she said.
