Howell residents will vote on recreational marijuana businesses in November, despite efforts to strike the measure from the ballot and arguments the organizers behind the proposal aren’t local.
Last year, an Ypsilanti attorney named Anderson Grandstaff wrote a letter to Howell City Manager Erv Suida, saying he represented an organization planning to circulate petitions in support of a recreational marijuana ballot initiative in Howell. He did not name his client.
The city opted out of allowing marijuana businesses in 2018, soon after voters statewide approved the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act.
More:Attorney asks Howell to adopt recreational marijuana ordinance
Then-Mayor Nick Proctor said the decision would give “… the state time to craft their regulatory framework.” He said once regulations were in place, the city could choose to opt in — but that never happened.
Suida told The Daily earlier this year there’d been two other attempts for a ballot proposal, but both failed to collect enough signatures.
A recent decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals, in favor of a group called “Open Stores in Howell,” will require Howell City Clerk Deanna Robson to certify the ballot wording, Livingston County Clerk Elizabeth Hundley to place the measure on the ballot, and the Livingston County Elections Commission to assure placement.
Read more at Livingston Daily