PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI- The Pittsfield Township Planning Commission delayed a vote after local Boy Scouts troop leaders voiced discontent with a proposed medical marijuana facility grow operation due to its proximity to their property.

About 40 people, 15 of whom sported tan and olive-green Boy Scout uniforms, gathered Thursday, Sept. 15, for a hearing on a conditional use permit and site plan for a 29,033-square-foot industrial building at 3858 Bestech Drive.

Suite A of the building plans would host an 8,467-square-foot medical marijuana grow operation. The building would be about 500 feet from the Boy Scouts of America office, also on Bestech Drive. The 4.7-acre lot is adjacent to the office and has a taxable value of $144,131.

Barbara Read took her son home from soccer practice before driving him to the meeting. She urged the commission to delay a vote and determine an outcome for the grow operation after the fate of marijuana-related House Bill 4209 is decided.

"The Boy Scouts are not an ordinary organization," Read said. "You shouldn't feel pressure to be on anyone else's timeline."

Boy Scout Troop Leader Raymond Davis described the Scouts office building as an important facility, with a purpose similar to that of a church or school. He is concerned about any possible odor or crime related to the grow operation.

Pittsfield Township code states that no medical marijuana facility or medical marijuana grow operation shall be located or operated within 500 feet of a residence or school. Read the rest of Chapter 25 dedicated to Medical Marijuana.

Superior Township resident Brian Nitkiewicz and his 14-year-old son, Mark, put on their uniforms and joined their fellow Boy Scouts at the meeting. Nitkiewicz advised the commission to see how other areas of the county are faring with recent grow operation openings, and used Depot Town in Ypsilanti as an example.

"I don't want you to have your heads in the sand," Nitkiewicz said.

Ypsilanti resident Jamie Lowell disagreed with Nitkiewicz, saying the problems some people associate with grow operations are often unfounded. He said Depot Town has not had any of the issues he heard discussed at the hearing.

"I understand the fears are real for these people, but the concerns are not," Lowell said.

Property owner Dave Hughes applied for the conditional use permit and site plan, and introduced Rob Schoenberger as the potential grow operation owner. He addressed some of the questions asked throughout the hearing, and said lighting would be installed along the exterior of the building and both physical and electronic security measures.

"No one will know by our signage what's there," he added.

A regulation in the township code prohibits the use of the word marijuana for signage.

The two-story facility would be built in two phases. It is unclear when phase two would start, according to the site plan review, but the total project is worth around $2 million in infrastructure, Schoenberger said.

"It's sad there are sick people who have to skulk around and hide from their neighbors," Schoenberger said. "Everything I'm hearing is an assumption of guilt before we're even there."

He argued it was unfair for the commission to delay the conditional-use permit.

"That's not how the statute is written," Schoenberger said. "It is an undue burden on my situation for unknown fears."

Some members of the Planning Commission expressed hesitance in granting the conditional use permit to Schoenberger, who does not have a license for the medical marijuana grow operation, as well as how close it would be to the Boy Scouts office.

"I do feel it could be detrimental to the neighbors," said commission member George Ralph.

"I'm not comfortable allowing it so close to the Boy Scouts facility," said commission secretary Deborah Williams.

Commission member Ann Harris shared that her husband died of cancer, and she understands there are people who are in legitimate need of medication, and the limited geographic area where medical marijuana grow facilities can be placed.

"It's hard for me to hear from people who disparage people who can benefit from it," Harris said.

Payne pointed out that another applicant with a license could apply for the same conditional-use permit if Schoenberger decided to drop out, and Harris motioned for a delayed vote in order to gather more information for a final vote on whether the impact of the medical marijuana grow operation.

"A little bit of time, maybe a month, wouldn't be a bad idea," said commission member Michael Yi.

After the meeting, Boy Scout Mark Nitkiewicz told the Ann Arbor News it was his first public meeting.

"It was very interesting, there were a lot of good points," Nitkiewicz said. "I thought everybody had some fair points."

The issue is scheduled to appear on the agenda of the next meeting of the Pittsfield Township Planning Commission on Oct. 20.