Marijuana sales proposals continue to fail with voters in Southeast Michigan communities

This story was republished with permission from Crain’s Detroit. 

After months of legal drama, cannabis real estate developer Jeffrey Yatooma failed to legalize marijuana operations in Howell — one of the last coveted communities for weed sales in Southeast Michigan.

Voters in the Livingston County seat voted down a ballot initiative with more than 52% of voters rejecting allowing two adult-use retail stores in the city.

The ordinance proposal made it to voters via a signature-led ballot petition, a practice that has largely been utilized by Yatooma across the state. The ordinance, which was written by Yatooma’s attorneys through the Open Stores in Howell Committee, effectively gave its industry authors a leg-up in securing a competitive operator’s license in the municipality.

Yatooma has been successful in the voter-approved ballot initiatives in the past. In Auburn Hills, a Yatooma-led initiative directed a city ordinance that approved operator’s licenses for four properties, three of which he owned.

But a 3-0 ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals in September effectively ended the process. The panel of judges ruled that proposed ballot initiatives in Wixom, South Lyon, Farmington and Sylvan Lake exceed the authority vested in municipalities to regulate marijuana establishments through ordinances. All four initiatives were started by Yatooma.

The state’s 2018 voter-approved law that legalized marijuana for recreational use, the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, allows local marijuana ballot proposals but only to prohibit or set the number of shops, the court said in affirming an Aug. 8 decision by Oakland County Circuit Judge Nanci Grant.

Yatooma’s ballot gambit, which generally includes setting the selection criteria, fees and buffer zones, would effectively control more than Michigan law allowed, according to the courts.

After the ruling, the Howell city clerk sought to remove the ordinance from the ballot, which led Yatooma’s Open Stores committee to sue. The group won in trial court and the case quickly made its way to the Court of Appeals.

That court agreed with the appellate court that it was simply too late to remove the ordinance question from the ballot, favoring election deadlines to its earlier ruling on the Wixom, South Lyon, Farmington and Sylvan Lake ballot initiatives.

But it ultimately didn’t matter as voters rejected the question.

Success in Clawson

Yatooma, however, was successful in Clawson. Voters in the community north of Royal Oak passed the amendment by an 8% margin, allowing for the establishment of two retail stores in the community.

The ballot language — submitted by the Clawson Survey Committee with the same treasurer as all the other Yatooma-led initiatives, Kerri Knipple — was nearly identical to the language used in Wixom, South Lyon, Farmington and Sylvan Lake.

But competition Clawson stores likely hold far less value than in Howell. There are roughly 10 marijuana retailers within a four-mile drive from downtown Clawson. The nearest retailer to downtown Howell is more than 16 miles away in Webberville.

Results elsewhere

Voters in Lathrup Village, Lodi Township in Washtenaw County, Bedford Township and Erie Township in Monroe County and Mason near Lansing all voted down ordinances that would establish marijuana sales in their borders. Lathrup Village had already banned marijuana sales in 2022.

Voters in Royal Oak Township, however, voted to not “completely prohibit marijuana establishments” in the small 358-acre suburb. That was the only question on the ballot and an ordinance to allow for marijuana sales or businesses is not established.