ANN ARBOR, MI - A medical marijuana dispensary across from the University of Michigan Law School is getting legal.

The Ann Arbor Planning Commission voted 7-0 Wednesday night, May 16, to approve a special-exception use zoning permit for the Green Planet dispensary at the corner of Tappan and Monroe streets.

Green Planet, 700 Tappan St., is one of several existing dispensaries in Ann Arbor seeking to become official under new regulations for marijuana businesses, along with several proposed dispensaries.

Green Planet, which describes itself as a patient collective with friendly expert caregivers, is located in a teal house next door to Dominick's, a popular campus-area bar across from the law school.

It's right next to the cannabis celebration that happens every April on Monroe Street in conjunction with Ann Arbor's annual Hash Bash.

As part of getting approval, Green Planet is required to remove a curb cut and pavement in the yard area and restore the area.

The Planning Commission considered zoning approval for two other dispensaries Wednesday night.

The commission voted 7-0 to approve the Exclusive Brands LLC dispensary at 3820 Varsity Drive, which is in an office park off Ellsworth Road, east of State Street and south of Interstate 94.

The company is doing business as the Exclusive PR Center and the dispensary is part of a growing/processing facility.

A company representative told the commission the business has been in operation for eight years.

As part of coming into compliance with city rules, the business is required to install two class-C and four class-B bicycle parking spaces, as well as a public sidewalk fronting the site along Varsity Drive.

The commission postponed taking action on a newly proposed dispensary known as The Rabbit Club, which wants to open in an old commercial building off Jefferson Street at 450 S. Main St. That's near downtown and the Old West Side neighborhood.

A neighbor expressed concerns that it might be too close to the Doughty Montessori School around the corner on Ashley Street, but that wasn't what concerned commissioners.

Commissioners expressed concerns about the existing parking lot configuration along Jefferson Street, which includes eight spaces that are accessible by driving over the sidewalk straight into parking spaces and then backing up over the sidewalk to leave. They're worried about the potential for conflicts with pedestrians.

Erik Majcher of 440 South Main LLC, the company that purchased the property for $860,000 last December, appeared before the commission, along with representatives of The Rabbit Club.

They agreed to work with the city's staff to try to find a solution to the concerns raised and then come back to the commission, possibly at one of the commission's meetings in June.

The dispensary is proposed to occupy one of six commercial spaces in the two-story commercial building and was expecting to have use of one of the eight parking spaces for customers.

Majcher noted each of the eight parking spaces is designated and marked for use only by the designated businesses.

City officials confirmed no off-street parking is actually required for the dispensary, so not having onsite parking for the dispensary is an option. There's on-street parking nearby.

Commissioner Erica Briggs said she's worried dispensary visitors still would be tempted to pull into one of the open off-street parking spaces in front of the dispensary.

Though the parking lot has been in its current configuration for many years and is used right now by existing building tenants and visitors in the manner that commissioners are concerned about, Brett Lenart, the city's planning manager, explained that non-conforming uses are allowed to continue by city ordinance, but special-exception use requests call for extra scrutiny to determine compliance with current standards. So, while the parking configuration is not an issue for other businesses, the dispensary is being held to a higher standard.

Lenart suggested one option might be to shift the public sidewalk onto the private property so cars don't have to drive over it.

The Planning Commission is tasked with considering dispensaries on a case-by-case basis as special-exception uses, meaning they require special zoning approval. Once the zoning is approved, dispensaries still need building compliance approval, permit approval through the city clerk's office and license approval through the state.

The Planning Commission has approved the zoning for 11 marijuana dispensaries so far this year:

Liv Cafe N Wellness, 603 E. William St.

Bloom City Club, 423 Miller Ave.

Arbors Wellness, 321 E. Liberty St.

Treecity Health Collective, 2730 Jackson Ave.

Greenstone Society, 338 S. Ashley St.

Stadium Ventures Inc., 2460 W. Stadium Blvd.

Medicine Man of Ann Arbor Inc., 2793 Plymouth Road

Arborside, 1818 Packard St.

Om of Medicine, 111 S. Main St.

Green Planet, 700 Tappan St.

Exclusive PR Center, 3820 Varsity Drive

Several others are still under consideration.

The City Council voted last week to give initial approval to capping the number of dispensary permits available at 28. That comes back for final council approval on Monday night, May 21.