In one of the last metro Detroit communities to open its doors to retail marijuana businesses, the process of applying for a license is a war of attrition.
Dozens of eager applicants have been lined up day and night for three weeks outside of the Redford Township hall on Beech Daly Road.
The weed company operators are vying to secure a license to open a dispensary in the inner-ring suburb of Redford, which approved an ordinance to allow for marijuana sales over the summer and decided on a first-come-first-serve process for applications. The result effectively incentivized operators get in line last month — and stay there — in hopes of securing one of the valuable licenses.
“It’s inhumane,” Nick Hannawa, chief legal counsel for Troy-based Puff Cannabis Co., told Crain’s.
Representatives from Redford Township did not respond to inquiries on the process. The township was to begin accepting applications at 9 a.m. Thursday.
The township’s rules allowed for applicants to use foldable camping chairs, but barred cots, tents or sleeping on the ground. Temperatures were 48 degrees last night in Redford.
Applicants told Crain’s early Thursday morning they would walk to the nearby Exxon or Shell gas stations to use the bathroom while waiting in line.
Most of the people in line were hired line sitters, holding spots in line for their employer or whatever marijuana operators paid them to be there. The sitters worked in shifts over the course of the last three weeks.
Aric Klar, CEO of Birmingham-based Quality Roots, who took over his company’s spot in line Thursday morning, said he’s spent $22,000 on wages for employees to work in shifts in the line since Sept. 11.
Puff Cannabis had alternated employees in the line since Sept. 12, securing somewhere between the eighth and 10th spot in line, said Hannawa, who arrived at city hall on Thursday morning to submit the company’s planning and licensing documents.
Steve Kiousis, managing partner at Troy-based Kiousis Law PC and representing Zaza Cannabis Co., was also onsite to turn in documents. Zaza employees secured the 17th spot line after arriving on Sept. 23.
In an interview with WXYZ, Redford Township Clerk Garth Christie said he did not expect the lineup to occur.
“I was surprised to see it,” Christie told WXYZ on Sept. 19. “I was anticipating seeing them out here in mid-October.”
Lucrative opportunity in one of the last communities
But the eagerness of the operators is to be expected; as Redford Township is one of the few remaining communities in Southeast Michigan to allow for marijuana sales. A license to operate in its borders is potentially lucrative. The suburb borders Southfield, Detroit, Dearborn Heights and Livonia.
While talking to Crain’s, Klar, CEO of Quality Roots, which operates eight dispensaries across the state and was fifth in line, received a phone call where another operator offered $200,000 for Quality Roots’ spot in line. He declined.
Municipalities are required under state law to make the selections based on a competitive process that typically takes the form of a scoring system — often revolving around an applicant’s ability to invest in curb appeal or sustainable operations. But some communities have done first-come, first-served methods of accepting applications, including Garden City, Westland and Harper Woods. One could, theoretically, argue lining up for weeks is, in fact, competitive.
But in Harper Woods the process devolved into a show of athletic prowess, much like how issues are settled on the playground: with a footrace, as applicants were barred from arriving until the day applications would be received but required to wait in the parking lot until a set time to line up for the three available licenses. The applicants then sprinted to secure their spot in line, which resulted in at least one applicant being knocked down.
Redford Township, however, did not place a numerical limit on its licenses — but is doing so through zoning.
Read more at Crain’s Detroit