SALINE, MI — An unfinished car wash in Saline is one step closer to finding a new purpose after the Saline City Council meeting on Monday, February 6th.
Currently, there are potential plans to convert 121 Sage Court into a multi-tenant shopping center that will feature a marijuana dispensary. During the meeting, city council members approved with conditions the retail sale of medical and recreational marijuana at the site.
The car wash, known as Clean Getaway, was built in the early 2000s and was scheduled for final inspections in 2004. However, the business never opened and has not operated since. touched
The applicant, Exclusive Brands LLC, proposes to transform the approximately 9,900 square foot car wash into a five-unit, single-story shopping center. The dispensary would occupy a 5,665-square-foot space within the northwest portion of the building.
The other four remaining units plan to offer non-cannabis professional or business services, such as insurance agents and lawyers.
Exclusive Brands currently has locations in areas including Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lowell, Coldwater and Muskegon.
Saline Mayor Brian Marl said “the stars have really aligned” with this proposal, but remains “cautiously optimistic.” He’s excited that someone can repurpose this long-vacant building while bringing other businesses to Saline.
“This is the most attractive of all the dispensaries that have been proposed,” he said.
Ben Harrington, Saline’s director of community development, agrees.
“The building is 20 years old and has never been occupied … It’s honestly a disgrace and it’s been an attraction for blight … over the years,” he said. “We’re excited to see the building … become something new, get new ownership and certainly get a new life.”
However, to make this plan a reality, the applicant must receive final approval of the location plan from the City Council.
One of the conditions that the applicant must do is to verify their buffer zone with a licensed surveyor or engineer.
Exclusive Brands must verify a 250-foot buffer from another proposed dispensary on the vacant lot near Tractor Supply Co. at 7608 E. Michigan Ave. You must also ensure that you are within 1,000 feet of nearby school property.
Because Exclusive Brands was the last applicant to formally apply under the city’s original ordinance, the applicant only needs to be within 250 feet of other medical and recreational marijuana dispensaries.
Today, the city’s buffer is 1,000 feet between dispensaries and still requires a 1,000-foot buffer from school properties.
Read more: Aiming to prevent a dispensary ‘on every corner’, Saline changes marijuana rules
“I’m not really that concerned that they don’t meet those buffer distances, otherwise I don’t think it would have gotten as far as it has,” Harrington said.
Marl and Harrington said it won’t be easy to transform the former car wash; however, both agree that the building has potential to become something more.
“I think they have their work cut out for them, but I (think the applicant is) optimistic … that this building is actually viable for what they intend to do,” Harrington said.
Currently, Marl said Saline has six sites pursuing the sale of marijuana, but he suspects one or two applicants may drop out of the process in the near future.
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