HANCOCK — Scott Dianda attended Wednesday’s Hancock City Council December meeting to give a presentation on “Tranquility Fields,” — a recreational marijuana franchise based downstate.

“We are very interested in looking at Hancock as an opportunity,” said the former Calumet Village President and State Representative. He also said that the organization’s business model would employ twelve full-time employees and a local franchise owner.

According to Dianda, the franchise is looking to set up at least one store in every county in Michigan. Representatives of the company have been looking for buildings in communities that have opted in – or not opted out – of the state’s recreational marijuana infrastructure. These buildings are then torn down and replaced with prefabricated structures. Dianda compared the buildings to “a Starbucks or a high-end McDonald’s.”

In the case of Hancock, Dianda said that Tranquility Fields was looking into acquiring 224 Quincy Street – formerly Risto’s Hardware. Hancock is currently opted out of Michigan’s recreational marijuana infrastructure, meaning that it is still illegal to sell recreational marijuana in Hancock. However, the city has been exploring the possibility of allowing recreational marijuana retail, using zoning districts to restrict its sale.

224 Quincy Street is within the area that the city’s Recreational Marijuana Task Force had initially recommended but subsequent surveys and communications revealed that while many Hancock residents are open to recreational marijuana retail, many are opposed to marijuana businesses being located on main street, largely due to the presence of an Intermediate School District Career Technology Education building. While 224 Quincy Street is farther than other locations from the CTE building, it is across the street from buildings owned by Finlandia University, as pointed out during the meeting by councilor Dan Seguin.

When asked by councilor Stephanie Tubman whether he had talked to nearby business owners about the business, Dianda said that he had not.

When Dianda said that he had also proposed to the Calumet Village Council – who announced at their meeting Tuesday that they would start accepting marijuana retail applications immediately – councilor and recreational marijuana committee member Will Lytle asked when Hancock would need to start accepting applications in order to be competitive. Dianda replied that Tranquility Fields would like to have the process started by February.

“This is a discussion I’m sure we’ll continue having,” said Mayor Paul LaBine. LaBine further said that recreational marijuana could return as an agenda item in January.