Medical marijuana dispensaries could be allowed in retail zones — with some restrictions — if the Ann Arbor City Council approves an ordinance recently drafted by the Ann Arbor Planning Commission.

The ordinance would also put restrictions on the establishment or expansion of medical marijuana dispensaries — or nonresidential places where one or more caregivers transfer medicine among themselves and/or to patients — within the city. In addition, the ordinance applies to cultivation facilities and home occupations, which are defined by the commission as single-family dwellings used for nonresidential purposes involving medical marijuana.

The Ann Arbor City Council reviewed the ordinance once on Oct. 18 and will do so again on Dec. 20.

The ordinance in question addresses a temporary moratorium regulating the availability of medical marijuana in Ann Arbor, which City Council passed on Aug. 5. This temporary moratorium, set to expire on Jan. 31, was designed to provide the planning commission time to finalize regulations for dispensaries before too many opened.

Ann Arbor City Planner Jill Thacher said that it’s typical for the council to make changes to proposals during second readings, and she expects this ordinance will be no different.

The biggest obstacle in drafting the ordinance, Thacher said, was the commission’s lack of knowledge about the medical marijuana industry. Before the commission could really do anything, she said, they first had to find out the logistics of dispensaries and what classifies as a home occupation, among other things.

After learning more about how dispensaries operate, the commission decided these facilities would be most suited for retail zones, Thacher said.

Dennis Hayes, a co-founder of the Ann Arbor Medical Marijuana Patient Collective and a lawyer who specializes in drug laws, said he thinks the ordinance can be narrow and conservative in parts, but overall he’s happy that Ann Arbor is handling this issue intelligently, and that City Council is very “accessible and interested and pretty open-minded” about the issue. Simply permitting the existence of dispensaries, he said, is a step forward.

The ordinance comes amid other municipalities’ recent bans on the use of medical marijuana, despite the Michigan Marijuana Act, which allows patients registered with the state to use medical marijuana. These areas including Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Livonia, which recently passed ordinances that prohibit actions on medical marijuana that violate federal law. Marijuana, classified as a Schedule I drug under the Drug Enforcement Act, is still illegal under federal law.

The state’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter recently sued these cities on behalf of Linda Lott, a registered medical marijuana patient with multiple sclerosis, and her husband Robert, who has glaucoma, saying their bans violate the marijuana act.

Thacher said there is still time for public input on the Ann Arbor ordinance. Thacher said the commission has mostly heard from stakeholders in the medical marijuana community so far.

Medical marijuana activists have voiced concerns about one provision of the ordinance that prohibits a dispensary or cultivation facility — defined as a facility where more than 72 plants are grown — from being located within 1,000 feet of a primary or secondary school.

Hayes said he thinks the 1,000-foot rule is unnecessary.

“If you look at the zoning maps, the proposed 1,000-foot setback is altogether too long,” he said.