One local township’s planning commission is drafting a new ordinance that will allow and set the standards for marijuana facilities.

The Northfield Township Planning Commission reviewed what could become a new chapter within their Code of Ordinances that will set the regulations for marijuana-related businesses, Wednesday night. Township Planning Consultant Paul Lippens said the original model for the ordinance was based off of Ann Arbor’s medical marijuana ordinance. While some were comfortable with its more open ended approach to the number of licensing permits allowed, others wanted to be more restrictive. Chairman Larry Roman said he pleased with what they came up with, with it being a fair middle ground for differing ideologies among commissioners.

The number of facilities in the new draft is as follows: 20 licenses would be available for Grower Facilities, allocated between medical and recreational use. Northfield Township would also offer 6 licenses to each of Processor Facilities, Secure Transporters, Safety Compliance Facilities, Retail Facilities, Provisioning Center Facilities, and Microbusiness Facilities. Permits granted would be valid for 1 year and must be reapplied for annually. A non-refundable application fee of $5,000 would also be required.

A public hearing on the draft ordinance is scheduled during the Planning Commission’s next meeting, which is on March 20th. From there, the Planning Commission may decide to make changes based on input, send it to the Board of Trustees with a recommendation, or as the township’s planning consultant recommends, send it to the township attorney for review before sending it to the Board.(MK)