Milan council approves two recreational cannabis retail permits amid applicant scoring dispute

The City of Milan City Council voted to approve recreational marihuana retailer permits for Green Ink 420 and Oz Cannabis during its July 5 meeting, with each motion passing on a roll-call vote of 6-0 (one member absent). Councilmember Jesse Nie moved approval of Green Ink 420’s score and rank; Councilmember David Baldwin moved approval of Oz Cannabis’s score and rank. Both motions carried unanimously.

The council’s administrative scoring memos, presented by City Administrator Jim Lancaster, show Green Ink 420 received 390 out of 400 possible points and Oz Cannabis 380 out of 400. Lancaster’s memo for Green Ink 420 noted a planner concern about stormwater compliance that could be managed with an underground detention system; the memo nonetheless recommended issuance of a permit if the score placed the applicant in the award range. OZ’s proposal would redevelop 1132 Dexter Street in two phases, using an existing laundromat as a temporary provisioning center while constructing a new multi-tenant strip mall for the permanent facility.

The approvals complete the council’s earlier work on a licensing process that included a Marijuana Subcommittee and multiple work sessions. Mayor Ed Kolar told the council the ordinance and scoring process were designed with caution and that the council agreed to allow two retailers while preserving the ability to amend the ordinance in the future.

Not all applicants were approved. A separate applicant, Hayat Milan (identified in the record variously as Hayat/Hayat Milan), submitted a June 27 letter from counsel Craig Aronoff alleging disparate treatment in scoring and that Hayat’s application had been pulled from the June 6 agenda without explanation. Aronoff’s letter compared Hayat’s scores — recorded in administrative memos as 370/400 for adult use and 320/350 for medical — with the higher scores awarded to other applicants and requested that council consider the discrepancies. The letter also quoted City Clerk Lavonna Wenzel as informing Hayat that “the Marijuana applications have been pulled from tomorrow’s meeting agenda for further review and investigation.”

Hayat’s memo in the record describes a planned standalone provisioning center at 800 Dexter Street and a second commercial building; the applicant said it provided complete applications for both medical and adult-use permits and letters of support. Council took no separate approval motion for Hayat’s applications at the July 5 meeting.

The review documents in the council packet show that scoring considered state prequalification, resume/history, location/building, operational plan, and security plan. Green Ink 420’s packet includes a proposed Platt Road site adjacent to Love’s Travel Center and committed measures for façade, greenspace and energy-code compliance; Oz Cannabis’s packet includes a two-phase redevelopment at 1132 Dexter Street that would bring additional businesses to the parcel. Lancaster’s memos recommended issuance of permits where scores met award thresholds but flagged planner concerns about stormwater compliance for some sites.

Next steps: permits will move forward consistent with the city’s licensing process and any required permitting or site-plan approvals; the record does not show further council action on Hayat’s request at this meeting.