GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Grand Rapids’ medical marijuana business lottery will go forward as planned Friday afternoon after a judge ruled against emergency postponement requests by two applicants.
The applicants, MPM-R West LLC and Battle Creek-based Humble Roots LLC, filed separate suits against the city April 17 to overturn its medical marijuana ordinance and lottery guidelines on claims city staff has acted arbitrarily and unfair to non-locals in the process.
The lottery-style draw to determine the locations of Grand Rapids’ first medical marijuana facilities is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, April 26, in the second-floor public hearing room at 1120 Monroe Ave. NW. The city’s Facebook page will broadcast the event.
About 89 applicants are vying to open a marijuana facility in Grand Rapids. The vast majority of them are standalone provisioning centers, or dispensaries.
The lottery-draw order of having an application considered by the planning commission is important because once a dispensary or other medical marijuana facility is approved, it could void another application for being too close.
Attorneys for the companies claim they will lose a substantial amount of money and be “permanently shut out” of Grand Rapids’ medical marijuana industry if the lottery goes forward under the city’s guidelines.
Humble Roots claims it’s likely to lose nearly $750,000 “from preparing applications, securing real property and conducting community outreach” if the lottery goes forward, its emergency motion states. MPM-R West claims it’s at risk of losing nearly $100,000 for the same activities.
In an emergency hearing Wednesday before Kent County Circuit Judge Paul J. Denenfeld, they asked Denenfeld to postpone the lottery until a ruling on the lawsuit. Denenfeld said he weighed the potential injuries to both the city and companies, as well as the claims, and would not issue the order.
The court case, however, will proceed.
Grand Rapids sets lottery for city’s first medical marijuana facilities
The city received 89 applications for proposed facilities by the deadline.
Humble Roots has 20 of the medical marijuana facility applications. MPM-R West has one.
A points system established by the city commission in its Marihuana Industry Voluntary Equitable Development Agreement, or MIVEDA, will determine which applicants get selected first in the lottery to go before the planning commission for a special land use permit.
Potential locations will be limited by separation distances.
Applicants rack up points under MIVEDA by having partial local business ownership, an agreement to hire some local workers and not needing a separation distance waiver from a sensitive use facility like a religious institution.
According to the city, the goal of MIVEDA is to encourage “equitable development,” maximize local economic impact and streamline the application process.
About 58 potential properties for medical marijuana have not been applied for and remain up for grabs.
Unlike the lottery, they’ll be eligible after the lottery for special land use consideration on a first-come, first-serve basis — a point Denenfeld said negates the companies’ claims that they’ll be “permanently shut out” of the city’s medical marijuana industry.
But MPM-R West and Humble Roots claim in their suit that, among other things, giving preference to businesses with at least 25 percent local ownership is discriminatory against non-residents.
The companies, through their representation by law firm Williams, Williams, Rattner and Plunkett, further argued that the preference is arbitrary because it has no bearing on the city’s goal to boost the local economy.
Denenfeld questioned how it was any different from the city giving bid preference to a local construction firm.
Locals to get better shot to open medical marijuana facility in Grand Rapids
The city is scheduled to begin accepting medical marijuana facility applications in March 2019.
The lawsuits also contend due process violations, claiming the city disregarded its own rules by accepting applications without all the necessary qualifications. The city claims applicants needed to secure qualifications by the lottery date, not at the get-go.
The lottery draw was initially slated for April 11. It was postponed until April 26, according to the city, so that staff could process all of the applications.
Attorneys for MPM-R West and Humble Roots claim the city postponed the lottery so that other companies could attain the proper qualifications.
The city lists the status of every application, as well as its address and necessary separation distances, on its online medical marijuana portal. There’s also an interactive map.
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