Dexter Village Planning Commission Chairman Matt Kowalski gave the council an update on Planning Commission business during a bi-annual report.

Lisa Allmendinger | AnnArbor.com

The Dexter Village Council unanimously extended a medical marijuana moratorium Monday night for an additional 120 days.

And now council members plan to meet with neighboring municipalities Dexter, Webster, Lima and Scio townships to discuss the possibility of a regionalized ordinance.

There was general consensus Monday that working with the neighboring municipalities was a good idea. Still, several village officials expressed concern that a regional agreement won’t be easy to reach.

“Although there is usually never a downside to regional cooperation,” Dexter’s ordinance was written specifically for the village, said Matt Kowalski, the chairman of the planning commission.

“It’s pretty specific for the Village of Dexter. It’s not like a master plan,” he said.

Council members noted that village zoning differs from township zoning. For instance, Dexter doesn’t have agricultural zoning, while the townships do and Dexter and Scio have more commercial zoning than Webster or Dexter townships.

From left, Councilmen Ray Tell and Jim Carson.

Lisa Allmendinger | AnnArbor.com

“We don’t control one foot outside our village,” said Ray Tell.

Councilman Paul Cousins said to his knowledge, Ann Arbor hasn’t asked nearby Ann Arbor or Superior townships to work with it on a marijuana ordinance.

Jim Smith, who brought the regional marijuana ordinance concept to the Village Council last month, suggested that all members of the neighboring township boards and planning commissions be invited for a meeting.

He said after attending a Michigan Municipal League conference on the subject that the village is “way ahead of most communities,” and he left the information session with the impression that the village “should not rush into something.”

In a memo from Allison Bishop, the village’s community development director, she said that Scio Township has taken no action and Webster Township has a “comprehensive ordinance review under consideration.” Dexter and Lima townships are “considering an ordinance amendment.”

“We can share what we’ve done so far, (with the other municipalities) share questions we may have, they may have, and get it all out there and decide how do we approach it,” Smith said.

Councilmen Jim Carson questioned why, after both the Village Council and the planning commission had been working on this ordinance since August that the idea to include the neighboring communities hadn’t been brought up before. “I wish I had thought of this six months ago,” said Councilwoman Donna Fisher, who attended the conference with Smith.

The Village Council directed the planning commission to develop an ordinance that would allow dispensaries, control them and provide a conservative number.

Currently, the proposed zoning code would allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the village and was amended Monday night to include that neither a dispensary nor a medical marijuana home occupation can be located within 1,000 feet of a library, a school or another dispensary. Previously, it was 500 feet.

The latest moratorium, which includes dispensing or cultivating marijuana on property or in buildings in the village, expires July 19. It’s the fourth time the village council has extended the ban. Officials from the village and townships could meet as soon as March 31 to discuss the proposal.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter with AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Dexter stories, visit our Dexter page.