A West Michigan couple, who have been outspoken against the state’s legal marijuana industry, are suing the state’s top cannabis regulator, their local township leaders and a business for expanding its outdoor marijuana grow operations near their home.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids in December, alleges the Hesperia-based HiCloud LLC expanded its Newfield Township grow operations into property zoned as residential near the five-acre property and home of plaintiffs James and Carrie Draper, causing health issues for their children and violating the family’s Constitutional rights, Crain’s Detroit Business reported.
“The Drapers are now forced to raise their children in a home that smells of marijuana,” the lawsuit said. “Their clothes smell like marijuana. When they go to the grocery store and return to their car in the parking lot, their car smells like marijuana. People who do not know the Drapers would reasonably conclude that they are drug users. And it is difficult to have people visit their home because it smells like a drug house during the summer and early fall.”
The suit is against HiCloud; Brian Hanna, executive director of the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency; Newfield Township and Steven Micklin, the township’s zoning administrator.
HiCloud and Newfield Township did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the case. The CRA told Crain’s it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
The Drapers allege the HiCloud cultivation site expansion is retaliation for James Draper’s past attempts to keep cannabis out of Newfield Township, which is 30 miles north of Muskegon. Draper alleges the township fought against his ballot initiative to ban marijuana operations within the township’s borders, which ultimately failed in the 2022 election.
The suit alleges the township used a scare campaign about rising property taxes due to litigation brought forth by cannabis operators if the township revoked operating licensure.
HiCloud began operating in Hesperia in 2021 and its expansion is, according to the suit, less than 300 yards from the Draper’s home where the couple resides with their five children.
The cultivator requested a special use permit to the township in 2023 to expand its operations on to neighboring residential property, a request that was granted, the lawsuit contends.
Draper soon after filed a public safety complaint against the property, which was ultimately rejected by the township.
Draper also filed a lawsuit, in which he represented himself, against the township in state circuit court in 2023. That lawsuit was dismissed.
The federal lawsuit alleges the Draper’s children suffer from headaches and migraines from the smell and one of their children has allergy flare ups when the smell is present.
Read more at Crain’s Detroit