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Caregiver Centers,to apply to the city for a li- individual is a caregiver is kept confidential by Maine towns that have chosen to refine
<br /> cense(Ordinance 30-15).A subsequent zon the state,so a town doesn't really know who their land-use ordinances to address medical
<br /> amendment added Caregiver Centers as per- the caregivers are.Until a year or two ago,care- marijuana caregiving share some common i
<br /> missible uses in specific zones and explicitly givers mainly grew their plants and serviced goals:updating existing site plan review re-
<br /> prohibits them in the Traditional Main Street their patients out of their homes,and many quirements,if needed;defining the caregiver
<br /> Overlay and the Gateway Radial Thoroughfare towns'essentially allow home occupations with land-use category;considering a"safe zone"
<br /> Districts(Ordinance 31-15).Detroit seeks to dis- few,if any,restrictions. as an overlay zone,thereby requiring greater
<br /> tribute the Caregiver Centers rather than cluster In the last two years,however,there has setback distances than other uses in the zone;
<br /> them in a few areas,since they cannot be less been an increase in the number of caregivers instituting fencing and setback requirements
<br /> than 1,000 feet from each other nor closer than leasing commercial space,primarily in light on outdoor cultivation;and considering stan-
<br /> 1,000 feet from a park,religious institution,or industrial zones.Thus the towns where this dards for multiple caregiver facilities.
<br /> business identified as a controlled use,such as is occurring will need to decide whether they In 2009,the Maine Medical Use of Mari-
<br /> topless clubs and liquor stores.If a business is wish to develop special regulations for build- juana Act was amended to allow eight dispen-
<br /> within 1,000 feet of any of these land uses,the ings housing multiple caregivers in industrial saries in the state,one in each of eight regions.
<br /> board of zoning appeals allows for a variance zones.There is no state law prohibiting this Even though the cap on dispensaries has been
<br /> process that could still allow the facility to es- practice,even though understate law each reached,some towns with land-use ordinances
<br /> tablish or continue to operate.The city's Build- caregiver must have his or her own locked are struggling to find ways to regulate dispen-
<br /> ings,Safety,Engineering,and Environmental space within the building,and that space must sary locations if the cap is lifted.State law is
<br /> Department can also approve variances. be inaccessible to anyone else except their one clear that a town cannot ban dispensaries but
<br /> If,however,the parcel in question is less employee.Some towns maintain that any grow- can limit the number to one.In general,what a
<br /> than 1,000 feet from the city-defined Drug Free Ing of plants by a caregiver,whether indoors number of towns are attempting to do is bring
<br /> Zones,that option is not available.No variance or outdoors,is an agricultural use,thereby dispensary siting under site plan review and
<br /> is allowed for parcels falling into these buffer preventing multiple caregivers from leasing define what zone or zones are appropriate fora
<br /> zones,and there are many such buffers zones. grow spaces in an industrial space.Conversely, dispensary.Often the dispensaries are relegat-
<br /> The federal Drug Free School Zone applies just those towns that classify caregiving as a light ed to one,or a few,locations,a form of cluster
<br /> to libraries and K-12 schools.However,the industrial use will have to contend with out- zoning rather than keeping dispensaries and
<br /> u
<br /> Detroit version includes arcades,child care door cultivation and grow operations in homes other marijuana businesses a distance away
<br /> centers,youth activity centers,public housing, and on farms in residential districts. from each other.A few towns are looking at an
<br /> outdoor recreation areas,and all educational
<br /> institutions,including all of their properties.
<br /> In the industrial districts,the centers can be
<br /> less than 1,000 feet from each other to allow
<br /> for some clustering,and the buffer zone from
<br /> residential areas is waived. "
<br /> An individual who cultivates marijuana in
<br /> a residence in Detroit is required to register as
<br /> a home-based occupation.The city's licensing k
<br /> standards state:"Except for home occupations
<br /> ...no person shall dispense,cultivate or pro-
<br /> vide medical marijuana under the Act except at
<br /> a medical marihuana caregiver center"(§24-13-
<br /> 4).That registration process involves inspec-
<br /> tion and approval by numerous city agencies. r
<br /> Maine '
<br /> Maine passed its medical marijuana law in
<br /> o !
<br /> I <
<br /> 1999,but it was not until 2009 that disper sa- _ s
<br /> a 3
<br /> ries were allowed there.Up until that time,pa-
<br /> tients
<br /> a tients received their medicine from a caregiver,
<br /> individuals licensed to grow and distribute
<br /> medicinal marijuana to no more than five pa _
<br /> — g
<br /> tients.That system remains operational,with
<br /> over 2,000 caregivers,and is greatly favored ledt
<br /> by many patients in the state.There has been
<br /> little impact of land-use regulation on caregiv-
<br /> ers,for a number of reasons.The fact that an
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<br /> ZONINGPRACTICE 8.16
<br /> AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION Ipage4
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