NILES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WNDU) – The finish line is coming back into focus for efforts to bring Michigan pot shops closer to the Indiana state line.
Just when Niles Township appeared close to taking license applications for dispensaries, it was apparently taken to court.
“It was one of the city (Niles) dispensaries that brought it to the attention of the lawyers that the ballot language was incorrect,” Niles Township Supervisor Marge Durm-Hiatt told WNDU 16 News Now.
Court documents indicate that the ballot language that made pot sales possible in Niles Township went too far in requiring dispensary sites to have 150 feet of frontage on S. 11th Street.
Such referendums can only be used to completely prohibit the sale of pot or set the number of allowable cannabis businesses.
The frontage requirement has since been dropped and a proposed four store cap on cannabis retailers has been revisited and revised to allow for an unlimited number of dispensaries.
“I mean, I get daily calls about, you know, when are you going to decide? I think we’re probably going to get 15, 20 applications for four spots and if we would have had to decide on four, (whistles), I didn’t want that job. I really didn’t,” Durm-Hiatt said. “And our attorney pretty much advised us, he said you will have lawsuits if you accept applications, and they don’t get it.”
The Niles Township board will be asked to give final approval to the changes at a meeting on April 21.
If approved, the township expects to begin accepting license applications by the end of next month.
Copyright 2025 WNDU. All rights reserved.
