‘Marijuana has arrived in Eastpointe’

EASTPOINTE — For the city of Eastpointe, recreational marijuana has been a long time coming.

In 2021, the City Council passed an ordinance allowing medical marijuana facilities to open in Eastpointe. In 2022, a committee was formed to review and approve three licenses, which went to Holistic Health Wayne, 21145 Gratiot Ave.; Moses Roses, 17375 E. Eight Mile Road; and Common Citizen, 24545 Gratiot Ave.

Even though they were granted medical licenses, none of the businesses opened.

Moses Roses was one of the three establishments granted a medical marijuana license in 2021. But according to Chris Aiello, corporate attorney for Moses Roses, by the time they would have been able to open, the industry had shifted away from medical marijuana.

“We won one of the three (licenses), but by the time we got through the Planning Commission a few years later, the industry had shifted to probably 97% of all marijuana sold in the state was recreational,” he said.

Aiello said this led to a lot of lobbying from the three recipients to have the city implement an ordinance to allow recreational marijuana, which was approved by City Council March 4.

Under the ordinance, it was required that all three establishments be ready to open by Dec. 31 to qualify for a recreational license. In May, Common Citizen LLC, one of the other establishments, presented a scaled-down site plan, which led to the City Council denying a special land use permit.

Common Citizen LLC has filed an appeal in the Macomb County Circuit Court.

Eastpointe City Attorney Richard Albright said a lawsuit had also been filed against the city by Exhibit Cannabis Co. LLC, alleging that the ordinance violated state laws. According to court records, it was voluntarily dismissed in October.

Albright said the lawsuit filed by Common Citizen LLC had not yet been resolved. Timothy Ferrand, an attorney with Clinton Township-based Cummings, McClorey, Davis and Acho PLC, who handled both lawsuits, did not return a request for comment by press time.

The third establishment, Holistic Health Wayne, abandoned their plans, Albright said.

Aiello said they invested at least $1.5 million in turning a former restaurant into the dispensary. The location was formerly the Bread Basket, but it suffered a fire several years ago and remained closed and boarded up. In the middle of the parking lot, Aiello said, was an oil change shop.

They plan to be the first recreational marijuana establishment in Eastpointe.

“To be the only one that’s operating in Eastpointe, it’s wonderful,” Aiello said.

Aiello said they planned to have the store open and operational by mid-December.

“Marijuana has arrived in Eastpointe,” he said. “It only took three and a half years, but marijuana has finally arrived.”