Lume and The Brand Lab Chosen for Marijuana Retail Licenses in Holly

Lume and The Brand Lab Chosen for Marijuana Retail Licenses in Holly

(Mary Dupuis, July 16, 2022)

Holly, MI-Two marijuana retailers have been approved to open in the Village of Holly.  At a recent council meeting, officials reviewed several applications, choosing Lume and The Brand Lab for the licenses.

The application period for the newly approved marijuana licenses ended on March 31, 2022. Following a preliminary review by the Clerk’s office to ensure all required materials were provided, the applicants were reported to the Village Council on June 1, 2022.

Jerry Walker, the Village of Holly Manager, said the applications were split into numerous different categories and that only so many licenses could be granted per category.

Applicants could apply for a retail license for which two could be granted, a growing license for which five could be granted, a safety and transport license for which five could be granted, a packaging license for which five could be granted and a money transport license for which five could be granted.

As previously discussed by the Council, applicants needed to meet 11 specific criteria found in Ordinance 468 in order to be awarded the retail licenses they were seeking.

Walker told Oakland County Times in an interview after the meeting that there were only 17 applications received, all for which were for retail licenses.

While there were only two licenses available, Walker said there are short and long term economic impacts the addition of these businesses have on the Village of Holly.

The initial application fee for the license was $5,000 per license, leading to a total of $85,000 from the 17 applicants going into the general fund.

Following this there is a $5,000 renewal fund each year for the businesses to keep their retail licenses. Walker said he also suspects there will be an increase in applications for other licenses now that the retail licenses have been granted which are also $5,000 each with the $5,000 yearly renewal fee.

Following the roll call vote by councilmembers, the Brand Lab at 502 North Saginaw Street acquired the top number of votes at six votes and the Lume Cannabis Company at 3518 Grange Hall road received the second highest number of votes at four votes.

Arctic Lakes at 605 North Saginaw Street, Arctic Lakes at 1004 North Saginaw Street, Tranquility Fields at 602 North Saginaw Street and The Local at 3471 Grange Hall road each received one vote.

Based on the procedures outlined by the Council, The Brand Lab and Lume Cannabis will receive their marijuana retail licenses.

Walker said one of the businesses will be housed in what is now a vacant property that will be rehabilitated, brought to code and reassessed by Oakland County. The other business will be housed in a newly constructed building. When the building values increase, so will the tax revenue.

Each business will likely employ 20-30 people. Walker said this not only helps the people of the community by creating job opportunities but also by boosting the number of people in town getting gas, dining and shopping.

Walker said there has been some pushback from community members having concerns about an increase in crime or traffic once the dispensaries open.

To ease these concerns the Village of Holly had a team that visited facilities in Madison Heights, Lapeer, Lake Orion, and Walled Lake that already have retail dispensaries before making their decision to distribute licenses.

“A lot of people have just said they’re going to take a ‘step back and look’ kind of approach to it and see what happens,” Walker said. “I think that’s the wisest approach. When you look at other communities that we talked to that already had retail dispensaries in place their comment to us is that there has been no increase in crime. There has been some increase in traffic, but nothing negative in the community.”

Walker said the site plans for the two dispensaries are likely to be submitted to the planning commission in September and they could open in less than a year.

Information on ordinances, applications, meetings and more can be found on the Village of Holly website.