What to expect at Monday's city commission meeting
The sun sets on City Hall in this 2019 file photo from downtown Mount Pleasant.
The Mount Pleasant City Commission will meet at 7 p.m. April 11 to discuss a reciprocity plan for local marijuana dispensaries and Taco Boy's drive-thru.
City commission meetings can be attended in-person at Mount Pleasant City Hall or viewed virtually on the city's YouTube channel.
Community members can participate virtually using the city's Zoom link and the following information:
Meeting ID: 811 4532 7455
Passcode: 373040
Phone dial-in: (312) 626-6799
Proposed reciprocity plan
Commissioners will discuss and vote on the proposed reciprocity plan for local marijuana dispensaries.
Reciprocity would allow for all five local dispensary retail stores to have the ability to distribute both medical and recreational marijuana with proper licensing. Mount Pleasant has three dispensaries that offer recreational marijuana — JARS Cannabis and two Lume Cannabis locations.
A public hearing will also be held to allow community members to voice their opinions.
“After this public hearing, the city commission can vote on if they want to move forward with the proposed reciprocity ordinance or if they want to go in a different direction,” City Manager Aaron Desentz said.
The commission will also review public comments and emails they have received about the topic. Desentz said there were about 10 emails in favor of the concept.
Taco Boy's drive-thru
Desentz said the city commission will go into a closed session to consider a settlement strategy for the ongoing Taco Boy issue.
The local Mexican restaurant was denied a variance for its drive-thru by Mount Pleasant’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) on Dec. 15, 2021.
The proposed variance asked the ZBA to allow Taco Boy's drive-thru to have 120 ft. stacking space as opposed to the 200 ft. required by the city’s zoning ordinance. This stacking space is used to accommodate the queuing of the line to ensure vehicles are not impeding traffic.
Robert Baltierrez, owner of Taco Boy, has been asking for the city to reconsider the ZBA's decision.
Broadway Central
Broadway Central was an initiative that closed a portion of Broadway Street to traffic as a response to COVID-19. For the past two years, Broadway Central provided a space for community members to gather and socially distance.
At the city commission's last meeting, Broadway Central was denied for this upcoming summer. Since that meeting, roughly 13 emails were received by the commission asking them to revisit the subject.
It is unclear whether or not this will be revisited at the meeting.
