Council Postpones Vote on Medical Marijuana Ordinance

The Dexter Village Council voted unanimously Monday to postpone a decision on its proposed medical marijuana ordinance. After brief discussion, the council decided to place the topic on its Feb. 28 agenda for discussion only. 

The earliest the village could take action on the ordinance is now March 14, just days before the current moratorium is set to expire on March 21.

The village held a public hearing about the fines portion of the ordinance at Monday’s council meeting, in which no residents approached with questions or concerns. In fact, according to Community Development Director Allison Bishop, there hasn’t been a lot of public participation regarding the proposed ordinance.

“We’ve been talking about this since August and we've only received about 10 comments,” Bishop said. “We’ve had one guy come out against it, a couple of people have been for it and a couple residents have had questions.”

Council trustee Jim Smith, who proposed moving the item to next meeting’s agenda for discussion, and council trustee Donna Fisher both attended a seminar on medical marijuana dispensaries geared toward municipalities. They both came back with questions and concerns on the dispensary portion of the ordinance.

“Making it available to people who need it is not the issue,” Fischer said. “I have a tremendous amount of concern for the dispensary part of the ordinance. Who supplies the dispensaries? The law is so nebulous.”

In addition to concerns about the potential legal issues with allowing dispensaries, Fischer asked if Dexter has collaborated with other municipalities in Washtenaw County to address medical marijuana.

Bishop said while Chelsea and Saline have banned medical marijuana dispensaries outright, Dexter is farther along in the planning process then Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor.

“It will be a nightmare for law enforcement if municipalities are not working together,” Fischer said.

If the council decides to add communication and cooperation with other area municipalities to the ordinance it could take them well past the March 21 moratorium deadline.

“It (the seminar) made us realize that we don’t have to be in such a rush in allowing dispensaries. We owe it to the community to make sure this is a path we want to go down," Fischer said.