City accepting recreational marijuana applications, transfers ownership of Parcel B over winter break
Here's what happened in Mount Pleasant while students were gone for break.
The sun sets on City Hall in this 2019 file photo from downtown Mount Pleasant.
While Central Michigan University students were spending time out of town during winter break, news did not stop in the City of Mount Pleasant. Here are some things students may have missed over the break.
Recreational Marijuana
The city began accepting applications for recreational marijuana business licenses on Jan. 6 and will continue to accept them until Feb. 28, City Planner Jacob Kain said. He said the city has not received any applications yet, but will keep a running list online.
Last year, Mount Pleasant City Commission approved an ordinance that would allow a maximum of three recreational marijuana retailers, two micro businesses, five class A growers and three class B or C growers. Any businesses approved for a license can’t open within 1,000 feet of a K-12 school, or 500 feet of CMU’s campus.
Under the ordinance, licenses will be approved by a committee. The committee will choose which applicants get licenses, if the number of applicants exceeds the maximum allowed. The criteria includes if the business is already approved for medical marijuana, if they are local business owners or if the owner has past business experience.
The application fee is $5,000, plus another $1,000 if the committee process must take place. Kain said it is difficult to tell how many applicants there will be, but he said there should be fewer duplicate applications than the medical marijuana applications.
New ICRH Executive Director
On Jan. 6, the Isabella County Restoration House, a local organization that provides temporary shelter and self-sufficiency programs for homeless individuals and families, hired a new executive director, Dee Obrecht.
She has a background in criminal justice – working as an executive director for a child protective services agency for 17 years. Obrecht said she is passionate about preventative programs, so she would like to focus more attention on self-sufficiency services. But she will spend her first few months as executive director getting acclimated.
Parcel B Switches Ownership
Before Christmas, the city had a real estate closing with Michigan Community Capital, transferring ownership of the plot of land next to city hall known as Parcel B. City Manager Nancy Ridley said MCC paid the city $65,000 for the real estate closing and is planning to begin development in the spring, depending on the weather.
Ridley said the new building on the Parcel B plot will be a mix of commercial and residential property, with Green Tree Cooperative Groceries on the bottom floor and around 48 apartments above it.
