Aug. 7—WILLIAMSBURG — Marijuana will not be grown in Whitewater Township after voters said “yes” to prohibiting all adult-use establishments, including growing and processing facilities.
The prohibition question was approved this week on a 669 — 400 vote. Two general township ordinances approved in 2020, to allow up to 10 processing and 110 growing permits for medical and adult-use, will be repealed, said Supervisor Ron Popp.
“I’m excited, not so much because of the ballot question, but because the township passed ordinances 59 and 60 under protest from the public,” Popp said. “The people exercised their right to veto what the township did.”
Linda Slopsema, who gathered petition signatures to get the question on the August 2021 ballot, said it has been a long journey.
“I’m happy with the number of people who turned out to vote,” Slopsema said. “All along, I’ve felt this large of a presence in the township and a decision with this much impact to the community should be made by the people.”
The vote was delayed a year after attorney Michael Corcoran filed a challenge in 13th Circuit Court, arguing the election was a special election rather than a regular election as detailed in the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, which allows for registered voters to challenge municipalities that approve marijuana facilities.
Judge Kevin Elsenheimer agreed, ruling the 2021 election violated state law because there were no candidates on the ballot.
No permits were ever issued by the township as the accompanying zoning ordinance was never written, Popp said.
Corcoran represents Northpoint Farms, a former cherry processing plant that would have been turned into a growing and processing facility. Northport Farms in 2021 sued Whitewater Township for damages, saying two buyers had been lined up to invest about $4 million in the 70,000-square-foot shuttered facility. Those buyers have since gone elsewhere, Corcoran said.
“We’ve lost two sales as a result of the township slow-walking the process,” Corcoran said. “The township had a duty to finish the (zoning) ordinance and didn’t.”
A settlement conference in the case is set for Aug. 17 and a jury trial, if needed, for Sept. 20-21, according to court records.
The 2020 ordinances allowed up to 300 permits for growers and processors of both medical and adult-use marijuana. The ordinances were later amended to allow five medical and five adult-use processing permits, and 50 medical and 60 adult-use grower permits ranging from 100 to 2,000 plants each.
No permits were allowed for retail sales or any other types of facilities.
Popp, who voted against the ordinances, said there are no vacant buildings in the township that need to be filled.
“That’s really where marijuana fits into communities that have darkened storefronts or undesirable land,” Popp said.
Slopsema said her opposition to marijuana growers is based on environmental impacts. Grow facilities consume a lot of power and water and create a lot of wastewater, which is a danger with the township positioned between East Grand Traverse Bay and Elk Lake, she said.
The township doesn’t have a local police presence and relies on the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Department, Slopsema said. And there is an odor problem, she said.
“Where they proposed to put this there are lots of residential homes,” Slopsema said. “It’s a really big change to take on in your community.”
The township board in December 2020 approved the ordinances on a vote of 3-2, with former Trustee Paul Hubbell voting in favor. Hubbell did not recuse himself, despite his brother being co-owner of Northpoint Farms, a former cherry processing plant that would have been sold and turned into a growing and processing facility.
A public outcry followed, with many residents letting the township know they felt Hubbell should not have voted because of a conflict of interest. Hubbell said there was no conflict because he had no financial ties to the business, according to prior reporting.
Hubbell later resigned from the board.
While municipalities will reap property taxes on growing and processing plants, they do not receive any money from the state marijuana fund that comes from a 10-percent excise tax on sales of adult-use marijuana. The tax does not apply to medical sales and many medical stores are losing income to recreational stores, which don’t require a doctor’s approval to purchase marijuana.
Last year, the state disbursed $42.2 million to 163 units of government, including Kalkaska Village and Kalkaska County, which both received $395,174, and Benzonia Township and Benzie County, which each received $169,360.
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