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SOUTHFIELD — At its April 1 meeting, the Southfield City Council discussed Cloud Opportunity’s request to build and operate a one-story recreational marijuana retailer at 28610 Northwestern Highway.
Terry Croad, Southfield’s director of planning, explained that Cloud Opportunity was approved for a marijuana site at the Wendy’s at Telegraph and 12 Mile roads in 2019, but it did not move forward due to legal issues with the franchisee and the company.
“So we had a total of three provisioning centers that were approved. This would be a net of three, because they’re relocating from the Wendy’s site to here. So they were originally approved at Wendy’s — that’s not moving forward for litigation purposes. And this is a secondary site that they have found that they can build new as opposed to rehabbing,” Croad stated.
The proposed hours of operation are 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Sundays, with around 25 employees, 27 security cameras inside and outside, and security guards on-site to escort employees in and out and to patrol the business after-hours.
The marijuana provisioning center would rest on 1 acre of the 5.65-acre lot. The main entrance and parking lot would be located on the north side of the building.
John McLeod, the owner of Cloud Opportunity, clarified that the original parcel of land was 6.2 acres, and since the parcel was split, he owns 1 acre.
“This is the first development on that 6.2 acres, which will be followed by two other developments, one which I believe is a 12 Mile development and one which is the Northwestern Highway development. I can’t speak to those. They’re not my developments, not my property. But I know that they’re happening, and they’re going to be good ancillary uses for us,” McLeod explained. “This is actually proposed to be our third Bloomery location, which is a new brand name that we’ve had previously when we got approval in Southfield at the Wendy’s; we were Cloud Cannabis. I’ve now sold that company and started a new company with a new brand, which is Bloomery.”
The other Bloomery locations are in Mount Clemens and New Buffalo.
McLeod added that his investment in the property would be around $1 million and that he is hopeful that this development will inspire more development at that site as he believes it is the single largest vacant Southfield property still undeveloped.
“We’ve been very cautious as any B-3 (general business) zoning considerations, which is the first thing that you need in order to have a provisioning center, to make sure that we’re vetting those for potential use. So as of tonight, this is the third or only eligible site that’s available,” Croad said.
A 500-foot setback buffer is in place for residential districts, residential use, drug-free school zones, adult-regulated uses (sexually oriented businesses), schools, religious institutions, child care facilities and parks. There is a 1,500-foot setback buffer for medical marijuana provisioning centers and marijuana retailers.
Councilwoman Coretta Houge stated that she doesn’t want any more cannabis shops after this.
“After this, I don’t want any more in the city for what my vote could carry, because we’re not that large of a city. I’ve driven around the existing two that we have. It’s not that it’s overpopulated, overcrowded. So, I don’t see a need to go with a fourth one or fifth one. I would hope that we could do whatever we can to put a serious hold on these three, if this passes, and not worry about the buffer to save us — that we just limit it at three. I think we have enough.”
Council members Daniel Brightwell and Yolanda C. Haynes echoed Houge’s sentiment.
Croad explained that per recreational marijuana state law, the city is allowed to limit the number of marijuana businesses. He expressed that when Southfield opted into marijuana retailers, it limited the total number of retail centers to a maximum of five licenses. He added that the actual number may be smaller due to zoning ordinance distancing requirements. There are also limits on other types of marijuana establishments, such as testing, secure transport, and growing and processing.
If this site is approved, then a cash advance business located on 12 Mile, located within the 1,500-foot exclusion buffer, must cease operations prior to approval of any permits for the marijuana facility. According to the April 1 meeting, they’ve already agreed to relocate.
If approved, Bloomery will be the third and possibly final marijuana retail establishment in Southfield, joining Lume Cannabis at 26760 Lahser Road and Dreams Canna at 28930 Telegraph Road. The matter was slated to go before council again April 15, after press time.
To learn more about Bloomery, visit bloomerycannabis.com.
