City of Houghton Passes Recreational Marijuana Business Opt-Out

Recreational marijuana businesses will be prohibited in the city of Houghton under an ordinance passed by the city council Wednesday.

A pair of public hearings were held to receive comments on two ordinances–one to essentially opt-out of the portion of the voter-approved law allowing licensed recreational businesses and another assigning penalties for violations to the city ordinance.

City Manager Eric Waara stressed again that this action is meant to protect the city while the state develops the regulations needed to manage the industry.

Councilmember Rachel Lankton, echoed by Councilmembers Mike Needham and Buck Foltz, said the council intends to revisit this ordinance once the state has issued its rules.

Also discussed at the meeting–a major renovation of the parking deck area on the Houghton Waterfront is being considered.

The two level structure spans a wide portion of the city’s valuable waterfront property, real estate that could be better utilized.

City Manager Eric Waara said the decks offer very inefficient parking while taking up waterfront property that could be redeveloped.

The city council gave the go-ahead for Waara to put out a Request for Development Proposals which could lead to the sale and development of the property.

Any plans for the project will need to include a viable option for providing adequate parking in the city.

Houghton is working with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation on becoming a Redevelopment Ready Community and redeveloping the large parking decks into more efficient parking with mixed-use development that would make better use of the waterfront is one of the goals for the city.

In other business, Houghton City Manager Eric Waara gave an update on the changes in the business landscape to the city council.

The former Book World building is now occupied by Vinyl Truth Record Store and open for business. The owner is looking into reopening the apartments above the store.

Waara says the former LB’s Chill & Grill building has been purchased by an undisclosed out-of-town buyer. Plans for the location are not known at this time.

The Shopko in Houghton is slated to close in May but Waara has not heard from the company on any plans to sell the property at this time.

Meijer is still working on their site plan but the process is moving forward.

Waara shared one more bit of good news–the Travel Channel listed Houghton among its 50 of the Most Charming Small Towns in America.