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HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Marijuana took center stage at the Monday, Aug. 8, Harrison Township Board of Trustees meeting as trustees weighed in on six marijuana business permit appeals.
While Harrison Township does not allow recreational marijuana dispensaries or medical provisioning centers, the township allows commercial growing facilities, processing facilities and marijuana secret transporters to operate with a permit.
The six businesses reviewed by the board are not operational and are appealing revocation of their marijuana business permits. Trustee Brian Batkins visited each of the locations and singled out two permit holders of interest to discuss with the board.
Pure Gardens
Pure Gardens was singled out by Batkins due to a perceived lack of progress over the past year.
“I feel like I went into a time machine, because I visited that site last year when we extended the permits,” Batkins said. “And I could not get inside the building — I didn’t ask to get inside the building — but the outside of the building looks exactly how it did a year ago.”
Batkins also relayed a letter from the building official stating that the build out has not been done as approved and that revisions need to be made. There have also been unspecified property maintenance concerns, some of which have been addressed. The building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits are expired.
Attorney Joey Kejbou represented Pure Gardens at the meeting and stated the exterior work had been put on hold in order to focus on the interior and achieve a certificate of occupancy.
“With respect to those building permits and stuff that were supposed to have been renewed, we’ve been in constant contact with our general contractor and with our architect,” Kejbou said. “What our general contractor has told us is that the plans that were supposed to be resubmitted were also supposed to be resubmitted when there were supposed to be reinspections. We have been relying on our general contractor in this aspect. We are not general contractors. We are not in the construction space. We are relying on the professionals that we have hired.”
Kejbou said the property would be ready for reinspection and a certificate of occupancy within 60-90 days and would be operational within “a couple of months.”
After speaking with Kejbou, the board decided to table Pure Gardens’ appeal for a determination at the Aug. 22 meeting.
Pure Roots
Pure Roots was brought before the board due to an outstanding water bill of nearly $20,000. However, the cause of the bill is known to be a faulty toilet that was never picked up by a failed water meter during the building’s vacant period.
“For a period of time — between one and two years, I’m not going to tell you exactly — we were not getting a reading,” Township Supervisor Ken Verkest said. “We believe that, during that time, one of the toilets failed and was running pretty much nonstop in a vacant industrial building. It could accumulate the kind of use that we saw.”
The true scale of the building’s water use was determined when the mechanical meter was checked, and township personnel were able to turn off the toilet. The township is able to attribute the water use to the toilet due to there being no signs of the water not being returned to the sewer.
Pure Roots gave Verkest a verbal agreement that they will pay the bill, and the board unanimously approved the appeal.
Approved without detailed review
The appeals for Harrison Suite A, Hazel Park Growth and H&N Partners’ two locations were unanimously approved without detailed review.
