Two petitions circulated in Pontiac by a group called Sensible Cannabis Reform for Pontiac aim to revoke – or at least force reworking – the city’s recently passed recreational marijuana ordinances.
One petition would repeal the city’s recreational marijuana business licensing ordinance; the other would repeal the related zoning ordinance. Both were approved by the city council on April 4. The city is supposed to start accepting applications on July 5.
Mayor Tim Greimel mentioned the petitions during Tuesday’s city council meeting, saying they could upend the city’s efforts.
“While we certainly respect the right of individuals to exercise their rights to seek a referendum, I believe that our recently-enacted adult-use marijuana ordinance strikes the right balance on the complicated issues involved in approving adult-use marijuana,” he told The Oakland Press Friday.
Should the petition campaign succeed it will, at the very least, delay the city’s permitting process for recreational marijuana. A worst-case scenario, Greimel said, would force the city to restart the process of approving recreational marijuana rules – or that voters could reject allowing recreational sales in the city.
Pontiac City Clerk Garland Doyle said the law requires each petition to have signatures totaling 10% of the number of voters who cast ballots in the last municipal election, which was Nov. 2, 2021, when 7,285 voters went to the polls.
Sensible Cannabis’ Lisa Dawdy…
