The County Press

By 3-2 vote, Lapeer Commission approves adult-use marijuana sales in cityFree Access



LAPEER — The Lapeer City Commission this evening by a 3-2 vote moved to amend a city ordinance to allow the city’s licensed six medical marijuana dispensaries to also sell adult-use (recreational) marijuana as well.

The ordinance change will be effective 90 days upon legal publication, likely sometime in October. Normally an amendment change would take effect 30 days from publication, but Lapeer City Clerk Romona Sanchez said with an August primary election approaching she would not have time to complete the changes and asked for an extension to its effective date. The Lapeer Planning Commission will also likely take up the topic too as it will have to amend a zoning ordinance to reflect the changes required to allow adult-use and recreational marijuana sales to co-locate in the same businesses.

Voting in favor of the motion to allow adult-use marijuana sales in Lapeer were Commissioners Jeff Pattison, Eric Cattane and Tony Stroh — while opposed were Commissioners Dan Osentoski and Joshua Atwood. The motion, made by Pattison, also extended the hours of operation of all marijuana businesses in Lapeer from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

A motion made by Commissioner Osentoski and supported by Atwood to put the question of adult-use sales on a city ballot in November was defeated by the same 3-2 margin. Opposed to a ballot before the voters in the fall were Commissioners Pattison, Cattane and Stroh.

Monday’s historic vote was conducted at a special meeting (held in a virtual online capacity owing to COVID-19 restrictions) called by Mayor Debbie Marquardt who said the topic had been delayed too long and she wanted a single-item agenda to allow greater time for discussion. About a dozen emails and correspondence as well as several virtual comments from people following the debate were received and entered into public record.

Lapeer is the only municipality in Lapeer County that has permitted medical marijuana or adult-use marijuana businesses to operate in their communities.

The Lapeer City Commission will meet again Monday, July 20 (gotomeeting.com) when discussion is expected to include setting a schedule to ensure the city’s various commissions and boards meet at a regular interval. The City Commission meets the first and third Monday of the month.

Editor’s note: Read the Wednesday, July 15 edition of The County Press for the full story on Monday’s decision by the Lapeer City Commission.