City of Grand Rapids issued the following announcement on July 9.
New measures approved by the City Commission on Tuesday are meant to give more Grand Rapidians an opportunity to open and/or become employed by cannabis businesses in the city and improve social equity outcomes. The measures – part of the City of Grand Rapids Cannabis Justice Work Group’s social equity policy – also fast-track approval of medical and recreational cannabis businesses.
The social equity policy calls for:
- Voluntary incentives to assign priority for zoning and licensing consideration of applicants deemed “equity” or “advancing equity”
- Establishment of a nonprofit by the City to extend social equity work. The nonprofit will incentivize equity-enhancing practices beyond the scope of what the City can do directly, including investing in the community and collaboration with cannabis stakeholders.
Under the new rules, equity applicants are eligible for discounted cannabis license fees.
The licensing ordinance and zoning ordinance amendments fast-track the application process for cannabis facilities. These changes allow medical cannabis facilities and recreational cannabis retailers, growers, processors, secure transporters and safety compliance facilities – subject to certain limitations – to begin applying for local licenses starting July 20. Read more HERE.
For more information on the cannabis licensing process, CLICK HERE.
City Manager Mark Washington created the Cannabis Justice Work Group following a request by the City Commission for the City to be more intentional about a social equity program prior to acceptance of license applications for cannabis-related businesses. The work group’s recommendations are aimed at opening access to the cannabis industry to community members who have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs and related factors. The group includes staff from the City’s Executive Office, Economic Development, Law and Planning departments and its Equity and Engagement and Oversight and Public Accountability offices.
“The primary equity goals of the new policy and ordinance changes are to provide economic opportunities in the new cannabis industry for communities that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition,” Washington said. “Those communities also were disproportionately impacted over the past 40 years. This policy will help us find ways to invest in segments of the community affected by that same impact.”
Additional zoning text amendments – expected to be discussed during the City Commission’s July 21 Committee of the Whole meeting – would:
- Allow microbusinesses
- Modify or eliminate current sensitive uses
- Modify or eliminate current separation distances
- Modify or eliminate current waiver requirements
- Determine whether to permit designated consumption establishments
- Determine whether to permit marijuana events
The City Commission on June 16 rescinded its park waiver policy for proposed medical cannabis facilities, saying it would streamline the review process. The City’s zoning ordinance requires cannabis facilities to have a 1,000-foot separation distance from certain defined sensitive uses, including public parks and playgrounds. Before the June 16 action by the City Commission, the City – as park or playground owner – could object to a requested waiver to that requirement for the Planning Commission’s consideration.
The Planning Commission – in its review of 10 previous cannabis park waiver requests – almost always agreed with the City Commission’s recommendation. The City Commission now will rely on the Planning Commission’s review process and authority to grant a park waiver for any new medical cannabis facility applications.
Original source can be found here.
Source: City of Grand Rapids
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