KALAMAZOO — A Kalamazoo resident hopes to get a measure on the city's ballot in November that, if approved by voters, would permit three "medical cannabis dispensaries" in commercial districts in the city.

Chris Chiles, who has a medical marijuana dispensary in Portage, said his organization, Kalamazoo Coalition for Compassionate Care, has gathered about 1,500 signatures on a petition seeking support for a ballot question to amend Kalamazoo's charter to allow for the dispensaries.

They need around 2,500 valid signatures — 5 percent of the registered voters at the time of filing — for the question to appear on a ballot.

Last September, the Kalamazoo City Commission approved rules establishing dispensaries as home occupations under the city's zoning ordinance.

But Chiles feels those regulations are limiting, in part because under this permit, the primary caregiver can't assist more than five patients. Also, only one caregiver within a single residence may assist medical marijuana patients who do not live at the home.

Kalamazoo Coalition for Compassionate Care's proposed charter amendment describes a "medical cannabis dispensary" as a business with "one or more registered qualifying patients and registered primary caregivers operating at a fixed location for the purpose of selling cannabis at that location to any persons whose medical use of marihauna is protected under the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act."

Chiles said this amendment to the charter is intended to "stand up next to" the home-based medical marijuana operation spelled out in Kalamazoo's zoning ordinance.

Right now, he said, there are not enough "safe and reliable access points" for registered medical marijuana patients to obtain the drug. "I think it's appalling that registered, qualified patients are having such difficulty in these various municipalities," he said.

Chiles, who graduated from the University of Michigan last year and moved to Kalamazoo, said he's pushing for this measure because "I've known people in Kalamazoo and I saw the need."

The coalition is aiming to gather 3,000 signatures on petitions and will hold a final public meeting at 8 p.m. Aug. 1 in the Kalamazoo Public Library's Van Deusen Room before the signature drive is complete, he said.

The deadline for approved ballot language for the November election is Aug. 30, according to Deputy City Clerk Virginia Vander Roest. But other steps are required beyond gathering signatures, including the clerk's office verifying validity of the signatures and the offices of the state attorney general and governor reviewing the petition language.

Contact Paula M. Davis at pdavis@kalamazoogazette.com or 269-388-8583.