Royal Oak City Commission rejects plan to use warehouse for medicinal marijuana

(WXYZ) ROYAL OAK, MI - The Royal Oak City Commission rejected a request to turn a 23-thousand square-foot warehouse into a medicinal marijuana grow facility. The vote came after a marathon commission meeting that started at 7:30 Monday night and lasted until almost 2 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The warehouse, located in an industrial area near the intersection of 14 Mile and Crooks, is empty and the landlord has said bankruptcy will likely be his only option if the space is not permitted to grow medical marijuana.

If the plan had gone forward the space would have likely been the largest medicinal grow space in Michigan.

Royal Oak, like many cities in metro Detroit, imposed a grow moratorium after voters approved pot for medical use. City officials across the metro area, including Royal Oak, have said the voter approved measure has many legal problems – and that federal drug regulations are still in play, putting the issue in legal limbo.

The Royal Oak commission voted 7-0 to keep the moratorium in place. There could still be hope to revive the matter -- the planning committee will review the request, but it's not clear when or if the full commission will take up the issue again.

The debate over the issue took place during the same meeting where dozens of folks turned out to debate whether a ban on handguns at Arts Beats and Eats was a violation of the law.

That issue was allowed for discussion in public comment, but no decision on whether to uphold the ban is expected until next week.